Biodivrsity PDF

United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development
(2005-2014)
Education for Sustainable Development

Good Practices in Addressing Biodiversity
Education for Sustainable Development in Action

Good Practices N°6 - 2012
UNESCO Education Sector
Education for Sustainable Development Good Practices in
Addressing Biodiversity
U N E S C O
Education for Sustainable Development in Action

Good Practices N°6
2012
Published by the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization
7, place de Fontenoy, 75732 Paris 07 SP, France
© UNESCO 2012
All rights reserved
The designations employed and the presentation of material throughout this publication do
not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of UNESCO concerning the
legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the
delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.
The authors are responsible for the choice and the presentation of the facts contained in this
publication and for the opinions expressed therein, which are not necessarily those of UNESCO
and do not commit the Organization.
Education for Sustainable Development Section (ED/PSD/ESD)

UNESCO,
7 Place de Fontenoy,
75352 Paris 07 SP, France
email: esddecade@unesco.org
web: www.unesco.org/education/desd
Cover design: Helmut Langer
ED/PSD/ESD/2012/PI/19
Introduction
Since the beginning of the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable

Development (DESD, 2005-2014), the DESD Secretariat at UNESCO
Headquarters in Paris has received numerous requests for case studies and
descriptions of good practices in Education for Sustainable Development
(ESD). These requests have increasingly included issues of providing an
educational response to biodiversity. The increasing number of requests is
only one indicator that biodiversity education is increasingly recognized in the
broader education community as an essential part of ESD and life-long
learning.
ESD is a complex and evolving subject, and how it is applied and

implemented is a challenge for all countries. The Decade aims to see ESD
implemented in thousands of local situations on the ground, involving its
integration into a multitude of different learning situations. These initiatives
can be catalysts for action and contribute to the goals and objectives of the
Decade. In such ways, organizations, local communities and individuals can
be actors within the global movement for sustainable development.
To support the growing interest in biodiversity issues and ESD, UNESCO is

publishing this volume containing 24 examples of programmes addressing
biodiversity in ESD settings and practices. These good practices and shared
experiences, which were provided by a range of different stakeholders, are
concrete examples of successful implementation of ESD in different fields and
sectors, from the political to the school level, and including formal, non-formal
and informal learning situations.
We trust that this selection of good practices will assist different stakeholders
in their efforts to implement education for sustainable development and
encourage sharing of experiences between different parts of the world.
Contents
Introduction
1. Empower Namibians to Make Decisions for a Sustainable Future 7

Namib Desert Environmental Education Trust (NaDEET), Namibia
2. Water School for a Living Yangtze 12

Shangri-la Institute for Sustainable Communities, China
3. ESD at Ramsar Wetlands in Osaki-Tajiri 17

RCE (Regional Centre of Expertise on ESD) Greater Sendai, Japan
4. ESD as a Tool for Creating Development and Sustainability in Project-Work 23

(Case Study: Mongolia)
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), Mongolia
5. In Jordan, Biodiversity Concepts Available for all Students 30

Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature, Jordan
6. 2010: the International Year of Biodiversity in School! 33

Austrian Educational Competence Centre of Biology, Austria
7. A Day for Biodiversity 37

Hochschule für Agrar- und Umweltpaedagogik, Austria
8. Promoting Biodiversity through Environmental Education Centers 41

Cyprus Pedagogical Institute, Cyprus
9. “Chrysoprasino fyllo”: trans-national cooperation for networking schools, 45

local communities and environment
Ministry of Education and Culture, Cyprus
10. Free Guided Tours for the Public to the Nature Reserves 48
Estonian Environmental Protection Agency, Estonia
11. Falkenstein Wilderness Camp 50

Bavarian Forest National Park, Germany
12. Student and Youth Competition “Entdecke die Vielfalt!” (“Discover Diversity!”) 54
German Environmental Foundation, Germany
13. OroVerde-poster contest “Ich bin doch nicht blöd” (I´m not stupid) 58
OroVerde - The Tropical Forest Foundation, Germany
14. “Sustainability has many faces” 62

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), Germany
15. Initiative “Place a Stone in a Stream” 66

North Vidzeme Biosphere reserve, Latvia
16. Ambassador species for Biodiversity 69

NovioConsult, the Netherlands
17. Portugal and Cape Vert united for the preservation of Biodiversity 72
Escola Secundaria Dr. Ginestal Machado, Escola Secundaria Latino Coelho, Escola
Secundaria Pedro Gomes, Portugal & Cape Verde
18. MEDIterranean disCOvery exPerience: collaborative networking for Education 76

from young ages
Centre for Functional Ecology (CEF), Portugal
19. Calera de tango, life reserve. Education for Conservation 80

Municipalidad de Calera de Tango, Chile
20. Environmental Symposium for Students– S.A.E. 85

Institución Educativa Livio Reginaldo Fischione, Colombia
21. Agro ecological Schools of High Mountain, an opportunity to continue, 89

the use of the land
Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt, Colombia
22. Leading Education with Environmental Responsibility 93

Institución Educativa “Tupac Amaru”, Peru
23. Promoting an Environmental Culture of Eco-Efficiency and Education for 98

Sustainable Development in Aucará
Institución Educativa Secundaria Tecnica Agropecuaria de Aucara, Peru
24. Fans of the Planet. Biodiversity 103

Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales, Mexico
GOOD PRACTICES IN ADDRESSING BIODIVERSITY
1. Empower Namibians to Make Decisions for a Sustainable Future

Namib Desert Environmental Education Trust (NaDEET), Namibia
CONTACT Namib Desert Environmental Education Trust (NaDEET)

P.O. Box 31017, Pioniers Park-Windhoek
Namibia
Telephone: +264 (0) 63 693 012 Fax: +264 (0) 63 693 013
E-mail: admin@nadeet.org Internet: www.nadeet.org
Viktoria Keding, Director
DESCRIPTION NaDEET is a small NGO located on NamibRand Nature Reserve in the Namib Desert,
aimed at empowering and educating Namibians for a sustainable future. Our main
focus is conducting environmental education programmes at NaDEET Centre. Built in
a dune valley, NaDEET Centre is a model and experience in sustainable living, as
activities and living needs are joined to create a truly environmental education
programme. Registered as a non-profit trust in Namibia, it has established the
following four major projects:
• Environmental Education at NaDEET Centre: School and Youth
• Environmental Education at NaDEET Centre: Adult
• Environmental Literacy Projects (The Bush Telegraph)
• Capacity Building and Tertiary Level Support
Our main focus is conducting environmental education programmes at NaDEET
Centre. NaDEET Centre offers a variety of EE programmes tailored to primary and
secondary education, as well as community programmes for adults. During a 3-5 day
visit, NaDEET Centre engages participants in hands-on, experiential, outdoor learning
in a desert environment. By using an innovative design, alternative technology and
living techniques the Centre is a model and an experience in sustainable living.
Currently, the NaDEET Centre has hosted over 4000 learners in 125 groups since
2003.
The NaDEET Centre experience provides a truly unique opportunity for every
Namibian to learn about sustainable living in one of the most beautiful places on
Earth. Learners will develop skills and first-hand knowledge in solar technology, waste
management, biodiversity and water management by not only learning about these
things, but practicing them. In effect, learners are active agents in preserving and
protecting their environment.
Socially, the NaDEET Centre experience addresses many relevant cultural issues
affecting the livelihoods and health of many Namibians. Poverty, unemployment and
infectious diseases are all very unfortunate realities in Namibia, and due to several
cultural and social factors, many Namibians are not presented with any alternatives.
For example, many families cannot afford gas stoves, so they still resort to burning
firewood to cook. Collecting firewood is a task typically delegated to women in
Namibia, and thus, many women do not have time to gain an education. Likewise, the
whole family may experience several health problems, such as frequent back aches
and respiratory problems from burning firewood. At the NaDEET Centre, we invite
adult community groups to spend 4 days learning about solar technology as an
alternative cooking method.
NaDEET currently donates one solar cooker per every two people in the community
group. When these adults return to their community with not only new knowledge, but
the proper resources, they can become effective teachers in their own community,
resulting in a resounding empowerment unlike any other.
Furthermore, in line with government policy, NaDEET aims to build the capacity of
Namibians in environmental education. This field is underdeveloped in the country
and there is a lack of sufficiently qualified environmental educators. To fulfil this aim,
NaDEET has partnered with different organisations to contribute to capacity building
on several levels, as well as maintained an on-going focus on NaDEET’s own internal
capacity building. The core programme is in partnership with the Nature Conservation
Department at the Polytechnic of Namibia, providing internships at NaDEET.
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EDUCATION FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN ACTION
OBJECTIVES Nationally, NaDEET’s adult and youth programmes will further the development of
Namibians’ ability to live sustainably and comfortably without adversely affecting the
environment. Namibia Vision 2030 (p.39) outlines several factors that need to be
addressed if the country is to achieve sustainable development. To name just a few,
NaDEET’s adult and youth programmes address the need to:
 Establish domestically determined procedures that integrate environment and
development issues into decision-making at all levels.
 Develop or improve mechanisms that facilitate the involvement of all concerned
individuals, groups and organizations in decision-making.
 Promote actions that can effectively reverse unwelcome trends and reduce threats
to Namibia’s natural resource capital.
 Allocate more resources to the previously neglected areas (regions).
 Support household level income-generating, self-help projects (e.g. brick-making,
etc.).
Hence, all levels of Namibian society will benefit from NaDEET’s programmes since
they provide alternative techniques that improve the quality of life and health of
Namibians, create new directions for generated capital, establish new domestic
trends that directly benefit the environment and improve land sustainability through
alternative cooking methods.
WHO?
Type of organization NaDEET is a non-governmental organization registered as a Namibian non-profit

managing the trust. Key stakeholders include local communities, schools and other non-
initiative governmental organizations such as ministries. NaDEET keep all of its
stakeholders informed through the publishing of its bi-annual newsletter, The
Golden Mole, and NaDEET’s Annual Newsletter. NaDEET also supplies any
interested schools or individuals with free copies of our mini-magazine, the Bush
Telegraph.
The NaDEET Centre offers a variety of environmental education programmes
tailored to age/grade level groups between 7-20 years/3-12 grades which are
based on the Namibian school curriculum. The Centre also offers programmes for
adult groups including educators, community members and interested citizens. In
2010, we have launched a new programme specifically for community members in
the Hardap and Karas Region.
WHAT?
Educational / learning NaDEET Centre offers a variety of environmental education programmes tailored
setting and level to age / grade level groups between 7-20 years / 3-12 grade which are based on
the Namibian school curriculum. Participants stay at NaDEET Centre for 4-5 days.
During this time NaDEET Centre engages participants in hands-on, experiential,
outdoor learning in a desert environment. By using an innovative design,
alternative technology and living techniques the Centre is a model and an
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experience in sustainable living.

NaDEET Centre also offers programmes for adult groups including educators,
community members and interested citizens. In 2010, we have launched a new
programme specifically for community members in the Hardap and Karas Region.
The goal of this project is to improve energy practices and mitigate climate change
in southern Namibia. The type of learning is as follows:
 Formal Learning includes solar electricity monitoring, daily water measurements
and teacher/learner-based classroom sessions on topics such as climate
change, deforestation and waste management.
• Informal Learning includes cooking meals using the parabolic solar cooker
and exploring the desert’s biodiversity on a dune walk.
• Non-formal Learning includes sleeping, which helps to absorb and retain new
information.
WHY?
General focus of the NaDEET aspires for Namibians to choose to participate in finding viable solutions
initiative to their local and national environmental issues to create a healthy and
sustainable future for all. NaDEET has set forth the following aims to guide the
organisation:
• To provide a non-profit environmental education service for all, especially
the underprivileged learners and educators of Namibia, based in the
beauty and magic of the Namib Desert.
• To build capacity and know-how at all levels of the environmental education
sector, focused on addressing relevant environmental issues, supporting
the Namibian school curricula and practicing hands-on, experiential
learning and learner-centred educational methods.
• To engage in education, advocacy and awareness of the critical role of
sustainable living in a finite semi-arid environment.
Themes Themes explored formally, informally, and non-formally include:
• Environmental concerns, such as climate change, biodiversity loss,
deforestation, natural resource management, sustainable production and
consumption and responsibility in local and global contexts.
• Social concerns, such as health promotion, gender equality and
overcoming poverty. For example, the utilisation of solar cooking
techniques saves firewood, leading to more time available for women
and less respiratory problems.
WHEN?
Starting year and NaDEET began in 2003, and has currently been teaching learners for 7 years.
duration
WHERE?
Geographical setting NaDEET is stationed in a remote dune valley in the Namib Desert in the Hardap
region of Namibia.
METHODOLOGY
Methods & A variety of teaching techniques are used in both the youth and adult programmes
approaches at NaDEET Centre. To name just a few, four components are focused on in the
youth programmes:
 Water: Each group of learners share one ablution facility, which contains a
bucket shower, washbasin and 150 litre tank of water. They decide how the
water is to be used (i.e. how much for drinking, showering etc.). The learners
keep a daily journal where they record their water usage and compare it with
others.
 Energy: Learners explore alternative energy sources for electricity ad cooking
through solar experiments, daily monitoring of electricity and solar cooking.
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Barring rain, no fossil fuels are used at the Centre.

 Waste: Learners explore the three R’s: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle thought
various activities, such as making recycled paper fire bricks and making waste
paper baskets form old plastic bags.
 Biodiversity: Learners collect and release small animals using various
trapping methods.
As part of NaDEET’s environmental literacy programme, youth programme
learners receive It’s Time to Identify, a fully-coloured, identification manual with
pictures and descriptions of various species in the Namib Desert (in English), while
the adult community programme learners receive It’s Time to Solar Cook, a solar
cooking guide written in Afrikaans and English with various recipes, and It’s Time
to be Efficient, a guide to efficient living practices.
Budget and funding Funding for all of NaDEET’s projects has come from:
sources
• Private individuals, both Namibian and foreign.
• Namibian-based grant making organisations such as the Global Environment
Fund – Small Grants Programme, local embassies and UNESCO.
• Overseas grant making and ‘Friends of NaDEET’ organisations including
Marseilles-Namibia in France.
• Contributions from visiting groups at NaDEET Centre.
RESULTS & EVALUATION
Presentation of effects, results or impact of the initiative
Evaluation of Currently, NaDEET is planning its first formal evaluation of last year’s adult community
initiative groups. Two staff members plan to travel to the Hardap and Karas communities to
determine if alternative energy techniques are being utilised. Based on discussions
with past participants, though, most report a positive impact and interest within the
community. Furthermore, we can determine that schools support NaDEET’s teaching
environment since many of our bookings are for returning schools.
Results Results on the success of NaDEET Centre’s initiative are primarily qualitative and
naturalistic, that is, our results rely on informal interviews and what anyone can see
happening in the classroom. Since learners must actively participate, their success in
learning the information is apparent in the job they have done. For instance, if a
learner learns how to use a solar cooker and then successfully cooks scrambled eggs
for lunch, we can determine that they have successfully learned the material. With the
material distribution aspect of the project, NaDEET Centre programme participants
will be able to implement energy efficiency and alternative energy indefinitely. The
distribution of solar cookers and fuel efficient stoves to community members together
with the solar cooking guide and sustainable living handbook will ensure that
participants have the material needed to implement the knowledge and skills gained
during their time at NaDEET. Through the use of these alternate technologies and
improved skills, community members will act as role models to others and create a
ripple effect.
Analysis of success factors
Strengths The successful implementation of NaDEET’s initiative relies on three factors:

 The initial understanding and practice of the new material.
 The acquisition of new norms and behaviours for the learner.
 The modelling of these new norms and behaviours in the community so others
may learn from them.
The strength of these successes is obviously very important. Through a ripple effect,
environmentally-friendly practices can be implemented across Namibia without having
to bring everyone to the NaDEET Centre. Of course, it is impossible to successfully
analyse a ripple effect of new values and behaviours, but it is inherently understood
and accepted in the world that whatever one person does effects what other people
will do. Hence, the only ‘risk’ to providing an environmental education programme at
NaDEET to Namibians is that the individual will take their experience for granted.
Constraints
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Problems The most obvious constraint to NaDEET’s initiative is to find appropriate amounts of
encountered funding, primarily through sponsorship from large grants. Funding includes paying the
difference for disadvantaged school groups and adults; food supply; maintenance
materials; solar technology to be distributed to the adult communities; the publication
and printing of learning materials, etc. However, NaDEET has consistently been
capable of finding sponsors every year for school and community groups.
Secondly, maintenance of public structures is a constraint on the time and resources
of NaDEET.
Thirdly, language barriers may prevent some learners from gaining the full NaDEET
Centre experience. Certain members of the staff are fluent in German, Afrikaans, and
Damura languages, but the programme is taught primarily in English.
Fourthly, challenging old behaviours with new ones is the most challenging constraint
NaDEET faces. In effect, we can only provide the necessary tools and information
required to make giant leaps in sustainable living, but it is ultimately up to the
individual to utilise these techniques over time. In response to this challenge, NaDEET
has done its best to make each learner’s experience fun, exciting and relevant to
Namibian culture and social behaviours.
Perspectives
Why do you NaDEET’s initiative to “empower Namibians to make decisions for a sustainable
consider this a future” continues to grow and expand as we have recently been funded by the
good practice? European Union to sponsor four more adult community groups in the next two years.
One solar cooker will be distributed per every two people, solar cookers will be
auctioned at the end of each programme, each member will receive a copy of It’s
Time to Solar Cook and It’s Time to be Efficient; and each community member will
receive a t-shirt. Furthermore, NaDEET has been funded for two more community
groups this year by Namibia’s Country Pilot Partnership for Integrated Sustainable
Land Management (CPP-ISLM). NaDEET is currently working with potential
community groups and developing an effective evaluation plan over the next two
years. School groups have also continued to place bookings at NaDEET for next year.
These are all very exciting opportunities for NaDEET to leave less impact on the
environment, and more impact on the empowerment of Namibians to live sustainably.
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2. Water School for a Living Yangtze

Shangri-la Institute for Sustainable Communities, China
CONTACT Shangri-la Institute for Sustainable Communities

Room 709, Building A, SOHO New Town
88 Jian Guo Road, Chaoyang District
Beijing 100022
Country: China
Telephone: +86 10 8580 2623 Fax: +86 10 8580 2623 ext. 8600
E-mail: yhliu@shangrilainstitute.org Internet: www.shangrilainstitute.org
Yunhua Liu (刘蕴华) - Director
DESCRIPTION Covering an area of 1.8 million square kilometres the Yangtze River Basin is the life
source for much of China’s population, as well as an array of flora and fauna,
including many rare and endemic species. Population pressure and rapid economic
development are causing increased pollution, threatening the ecosystems and
communities that depend on the Yangtze for survival. Urgent action is needed, and
to ensure that such action results in the sustainable protection of water resources
public participation, collective wisdom and collective voices are essential. The Water
School for a Living Yangtze project creates opportunities for empowerment and
action, and promotes awareness and understanding of :
o The fundamental importance of the resource water for all life on earth;
o The ecological, economic, social and cultural problems affecting it locally and
globally;
o Principles of wise and sustainable water management; and
o Responsible actions by individuals, communities and governments.
The programme emphasises an interactive learning approach, the integration of the
programme into the existing curriculum and collaboration with government agencies
and education boards in the project areas.
In promoting an integrated approach to education, the project focuses on engaging
students and communities in a learning process that develops leadership skills and
strengthens organizational capacity to envision, create and successfully implement
high quality water education and sustainable water resource management projects.
Reconnecting with nature and local culture are key components of the project and
local values, indigenous knowledge and traditional practices from the different regions
are shared through a linking and learning mechanism.
“Education, in its broadest sense, must be a vital part of all efforts to imagine and
create new relations among people and to foster greater respect for the needs of the
environment.” (Dr Jayakumar, UNESCO Beijing)
‘’[the project] ensures that our children, the decision-makers of the future, understand
that water is a precious and limited resource and needs to be managed in a
sustainable manner. We have a responsibility to use it wisely because others also
depend on the same life-giving resource. ‘’ (Dr Christoph Imboden, Swarovski)
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OBJECTIVES
Relate to national The initiative seeks to achieve sustainable development by empowering people
priorities through education to assume responsibility for creating a sustainable future, which is
in line with China’s national priorities. Shangri-la Institute worked alongside the China
Ministry of Education (MoE) to develop a set of Environmental Education Guidelines
which are now used in all schools, reaching some 200 million students. The Water
School programme continues to work closely with MoE on national curriculum reform
and resource development; resources and educational materials developed through
the project will be endorsed by MoE and used by teachers, students and communities
throughout China.
WHO?
Type of organization Non-governmental

managing the
initiative
Partners/stakeholders Government (State/provincial/district)

involved Local authorities
Schools
Vocational education institutions
Higher education institutions
Research institutions
Non-governmental organizations
Community organizations
Private sector
Media
Intergovernmental, international institutions
Swarovski: Water School for a Living Yangtze is a component of the International
Water School programme initiated in Austria by Swarovski – Direct partnership
National Centre for School Curriculum and Textbook Development: China Ministry
of Education (MOE-NCCT): SISC and MOE have been partners for over 10 years,
working on national curriculum reform at primary and middle school levels –
Support for projects (in-kind). Resource Development
Education for a Sustainable China (the National ESD Association): Support for
projects (in-kind). National curriculum reform
UNESCO: Support for projects (in-kind). National curriculum reform
Higher learning institutions, schools and communities
Persons involved During the first phase of the programme, which lasted from January 2008 until
December 2010, eleven teacher training workshops and three regional forums
were held in the three project areas of Qinghai, Yunnan (Shangri-La), Sichuan,
Chongqing and Shanghai. In all, more than 750 teachers and community
educators were trained. Since the start of the project about 60,000 students from
33 pilot schools in Yunnan, Sichuan, Shanghai, Qinghai and Chongqing have
been directly involved in the project, carrying out a great variety of water education
activities both in and out of the classroom. Through collaboration with the wider
community residents the students promoted further community participation in
water education and the protection of water resources and agreed to further
collaboration in implementing community service projects. The establishment of
the ‘Water School for a Living Yangtze’ Community Learning Centre at Kesong in
the Shangri-la region allows for further dissemination of learning as the centre
serves the regions’ nine Water Schools and the seventeen villages around
Napahai, as well as hosting exchanges with national and international schools and
communities.
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WHAT?
Educational / learning Formal: Primary education, Secondary education, Professional education,

setting and level Teacher education, Further and higher education
Non-formal: The programme also works to build school-community links and
initiates community water and nature protection projects.
WHY?
General focus of the Learning for sustainability in formal, non-formal and informal settings
initiative Education of educators
Tools and materials
Research and development
Regional/international cooperation
Indigenous knowledge
Themes Intercultural understanding

Cultural diversity
Environment
Water
Biodiversity
Disaster reduction
WHEN?
Starting year and January 2008 – December 2010

duration
WHERE?
Geographical setting Local: Villages, communities, townships and cities within the provinces listed
below.
Regional: Qinghai, Yunnan, Sichuan, Chongqing, Shanghai
National: China
International: Part of the Swarovski International Water School programme –so far
including Austria, Uganda, India and China
METHODOLOGY
Methods & The following five components work together to facilitate the short and long-term goals
approaches of the programme:
o Resource Development: A range of teaching materials based around the
Project Curriculum and Activity Guide that are hands-on, easy to use, and fun
have been published. Localised components and practical investigations
were included so that students use their own environments as the basis for
learning.
o Teacher Training: Innovative teacher training is essential for students to learn
the skills, knowledge and techniques necessary to fully participate in
sustainable water management.
o School Activities: Activities were individually designed by each school in
accordance with local conditions and community needs, but with a common
emphasis on active learning and incorporating the following five elements:
investigation, communication, analysis, action and evaluation.
o Community Action: Students have identified and prioritised water issues facing
their communities and work with community members to plan and implement
community service projects.
o Linking and Learning: A school community linking and learning project
“Children of the Yangtze” has been set up basin-wide to facilitate exchange
among communities from different cultural backgrounds in the traditional
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practice of sustainable water resource management.
Working Chinese (Mandarin) / English / Tibetan

language(s)
Budget and Total funding of 1.6 million Euros donated by Swarovski, of which about 400,000
funding sources Euros was for earthquake relief in Sichuan.
Evaluation of Experience sharing and discussion workshops between local stakeholders take place
initiative regularly, at local, regional and national levels. This open style approach allows for
direct dialogue and discussion between the project participants and the regional and
national coordinators and ensures that all stakeholders have a say in project
management and decision-making. Project coordinators at national and regional
centres conduct regular assessments of individual project sites. Not only are the
water-related environmental issues in each location unique, but local project
management systems differ according to local needs and capacities. Therefore,
individual on-site investigation makes it possible to pinpoint solutions to local
community development, enhance teaching and learning capacities in unique local
contexts, and share best practice between sites. External evaluation and auditing is
also carried out annually by Price Waterhouse Coopers.
Results The activities involved both physical and intellectual exercises, giving the students a
chance to participate in nature conservation whilst simultaneously learning important
values. Under the guidance of teachers, students from the 33 Yangtze Water Schools
entered the surrounding communities and independently investigated and identified
local water resource problems. In collaboration with the community residents the
students then promoted further community participation in water education and the
protection of water resources and agreed to further collaboration in implementing
community service projects.
Teachers have generally expressed that participating in project training and engaging
the students in Water School activities has led to a more in-depth knowledge and
understanding of ESD. Participation has led to new ideas and approaches being
introduced into the curriculum and new pedagogy and teaching styles being
implemented with positive results.
A multitude of resources have been developed which are locale specific, including :
- One ‘Student Activity Pack’, six ‘Locality Packs’, of which three are for primary
school levels and three are for middle school levels, two ‘Yangtze River
Reading Books’.
- 8 posters (Yangtze River games, Yangtze endangered species, water use and
misuse) have been produced and are currently being piloted in schools.
- The ‘Blue Planet’ textbook has been translated into Chinese and is being used
in Water School classrooms.
In 2009, the ‘Water School for a Living Yangtze’ programme was selected as one of
five projects from the Asia-Pacific region to showcase China’s practice in ESD at the
‘UNESCO World Conference on Education for Sustainable Development.’
SISC has also begun publishing a monthly column about the Water School
Programme in the Journal of Geography Teaching, a Chinese–language journal
circulated to more than 20,000 teachers around China.
Strengths Phase I of the programme initiated and developed an alternative approach to

sustainable water resource management in the Yangtze basin through public
empowerment and participation. Through engaging with schools, who in turn engaged
their local communities in selected watersheds of the Yangtze River Basin, the
knowledge, skills and confidence necessary for effective community participation has
been developed and a process of social learning and action has been facilitated that
is contributing to the restoration of the ecological integrity of the Yangtze River. The
project engages the local community, educational institutions and government
15
agencies, essentially making it a joint local initiative.

‘’I grew up in the countryside so I thought I already knew about nature, but after
joining in the Water School activities I feel that I know much more, with the teacher’s
guidance we learnt about many plants and animals too. Now, I really want to study
about biology and geography.’’ (Student)
Weaknesses & Effectively reaching conclusions can be difficult when there is interaction taking place
risks between a wide range of diverse perspectives and expertise is contributed by a large
number of project partners
The spatial distribution of the pilot schools is significant as each area embodies a
distinct natural and cultural diversity. A wider range of resources must thus be
developed in order to be locally relevant.
Stakeholders are involved at three levels: at schools, at the regional coordination
centres and at the national steering committee. Having stakeholders involved from all
levels is a necessity in the Water School programme but can lead to a difficulty in
reaching conclusions.
Constraints
Problems 1. Sustainable water education cannot just be added to the curriculum as a new
encountered subject, it is a dimension to be emphasized in every aspect of school life and
infused into the whole of the school curriculum. The challenges of integrating
water issues into the school curricula encompass four main areas:
o Objectives: What are the personal, academic and community-wide benefits of
learning about water?
o Content: What needs to be taught about water issues?
o Process : How do we best communicate/teach about water issues?
o Capacity: What knowledge and skills are required among teachers to be able
to create and provide quality and effective learning experiences about water
issues for their students.
Solutions : work directly with teachers, students and pre-service teachers to
design the objectives and content, inform the process and provide capacity
building –so that the project is tailored to local needs and integrated into subject
areas or the school curriculum more effectively.
2. Effectively engaging the local government Solutions : Direct partnerships with
government bureaus at the national and local levels
3. Exam results as a focus of priority means teachers may find it difficult to
defend the programme as the WS programme is not about gaining high
exam results but instead about learning values and effective tools for
sustainable water management. Solutions : over time teachers, parents and
students see that participation in the programme offers valuable learning of
different skill sets not covered in the exams.
Perspectives
Why do you The second phase (2011-2013) will build on the achievements made during the first
consider this a phase and involves expanding the project to include a total of 6 regions (adding
good practice? Hubei), partnering with 45 schools in those regions. The programme will continue to
focus on creating and providing opportunities for schools and communities in a
process of learning that empowers them to take action for their environment and
communities, but will expand on this by:
• Increasing awareness, participation and action: established Water Schools
will offer guidance and support to other schools and communities
• Deepening knowledge and enhancing skills: utilising the curriculum and
resources developed and by developing more expertise in the scientific and
technological side of sustainable water resource management.
• Strengthening the learning and action through extended linking and learning
activities, regionally, nationally and internationally to share experiences,
ideas, lesson plans, methodologies and research, and by engaging with a
more diverse range of partners.
16
3. ESD at Ramsar Wetlands in Osaki-Tajiri

RCE (Regional Centre of Expertise on ESD) Greater Sendai, Japan
CONTACT RCE (Regional Centre of Expertise on ESD) Greater Sendai

Global RCE Service Centre, UNU-IAS, 1-1-1 Minato-Mirai, Nishi-ku, Yokohama 220-
8502
Japan
Telephone: 045-221-2300
E-mail: rceservicecentre@ias.unu.edu Internet: www.ias.unu.edu/efsd
Prof. Satoshi SHIMANO, Associate Professor, Miyagi University of Education(MUE)
Environmental Education Centre (satoshis@staff.miyakyo-u.ac.jp)
Dr. Paul OFEI-MANU, Researcher, Miyagi University of Education(MUE)
Environmental Education Centre
(pofeimanu@yahoo.com)
Dr. Yoko MOCHIZUKI, Research Fellow, United Nations University-Institute of
Advanced Studies (mochizuki@ias.unu.edu)
DESCRIPTION In many parts of the world, waterfowl and rice farmers are longstanding competitors
for lands that were once wetlands and have now been replaced with rice production.
The City of Osaki (Miyagi Prefecture, Japan) made a departure from the old line of
thinking that waterfowl and rice farming interests could not be harmonised. Today
Osaki-Tajiri may demonstrate a case of an optimal multi-sectoral use of wetlands.
The 1997 decision to restore abandoned rice fields to natural wetland contributed to
turning Kabukuri-numa, a 150 hectare freshwater lake, into a more stable habitat for
wild geese. This further led to winter-flooding of rice fields for the mutual benefit of
waterfowl and organic farmers. At the Ninth Conference of the Contracting Parties to
the Ramsar Convention (Ramsar COP9) in 2005, Kabukuri-numa and 259 hectares
of surrounding rice paddies were designated as a Ramsar site. The case of
Kabukuri-numa and surrounding rice paddies offers “good practices” in ESD in two
interlinked and distinctive ways. First, it offers an impressive example of multi-
stakeholder social learning for regional sustainable development based on
partnerships between environmentalists and farmers (Mochizuki, 2007). A citizen’s
movement to conserve Kabukuri-numa evolved into a participatory programme for
engaging with the community for the preservation of biodiversity—both in natural
wetlands and rice paddies—and sustainable agriculture. Second, this case provides
an informative example of jointly promoting Ramsar CEPA (Communication,
Education and Public Awareness) and ESD in the framework of the United
Nations University’s RCE (Regional Centres of Expertise on ESD) initiative, building
on close collaboration between formal and non-formal education.
Initial conservation efforts of Kabukuri-numa started in the 1970s by local teachers.
Until the 1990s, however, the value of the Kabukuri-numa as wetlands was not well
recognized by local community. Back in 1996, a full-scale dredging plan for
Kabukuri-numa threatened to destroy the wetland ecosystem upon which greater
white-fronted geese (Anser albifrons) and other protected or endangered species
depend for survival. Not only was the complete dredging plan successfully halted by
the efforts of local NGOs and other stakeholders, a citizen’s movement to conserve
Kabukuri-numa led to various awareness-raising and participatory capacity
development activities and research and policy work for the preservation of
biodiversity in natural wetlands and rice paddies as well as for revitalization of the
rural community. Conservation and educational activities in Osaki-Tajiri (then Tajiri
Town) came to be endorsed by the UNU under its RCE initiative with the
designation of the Greater Sendai Region as an RCE in 2005. Today financial
support for conservation, research and formal and non-formal educational activities
at Ramsar wetlands in Osaki-Tajiri is provided by several sources, but the main
funder has been the local municipality.
Multi-stakeholder social learning initiative for sustainability: In 1998, an
experimental programme to utilise post-harvest flooded rice fields as feeding and
resting grounds for wintering waterfowl (ducks, swans and wild geese) was initiated in
the Town of Tajiri (currently the City of Osaki). The innovation of “Winter-Flooded Rice
Fields (WFRF)” was born out of synergies created among three groups who engaged
in local action arising from different challenges: (1) waterfowl conservationists, (2)
local farmers searching for alternative rice farming methods, and (3) nature
17
restorationists who advocated for the soundness of the rice paddy ecosystem.
Simultaneous consideration of ecological, economic and socio-cultural aspects
of sustainable development: Osaki-Tajiri offers an illustrative example of addressing
the challenges of promoting both environmental and economic agendas of the rural
community. WFRF are managed as temporary wetlands sustaining rich biodiversity
outside natural wetlands. WFRF replace chemical fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides
by nurturing microorganisms that form the basis of food chains in the rice paddy
ecosystem. The local government, farmers and environmental NGOs are working
together for ‘branding’ rice harvest from WFRF not simply as a safe and organic
produce but also as rice symbolic of harmonious co-existence of nature and humans.
While multi-stakeholder social learning has contributed to raising the value of local
agriculture and reinventing the identity of Osaki-Tajiri as a sustainable region, ESD at
Ramsar wetlands empowers aging rice growers to take pride in their profession and
allows their generation and school children (the generation of their grandchildren)
alike to appreciate rich biodiversity of the region.
Mobilization and utilization of combined expertise of professions, community,
NGOs and local and national governments: ESD in this region is supported by a
diverse array of actors (as noted in #1 above and section B) which form an alliance for
the shared goal of conservation and wise use of Ramsar wetlands and sustainable
livelihoods of local farmers.
OBJECTIVES To equip the local community with competencies to (1) contribute to conservation and
wise use of Ramsar wetlands, (2) enhance the conservation value of rice paddies as
replacement habitat for wetland flora and fauna, and (3) recover the socio-ecological
integrity and enhance human well-being in the region.
Relate to national MAFF (Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries) is encouraging agricultural
priorities practices that promote biodiversity, and using the case of Osaki-Tajiri as a good
practice of biodiversity education for farmers.
MOE (Ministry of the Environment) allocates a substantial budget to Osaki-Tajiri for
wetland conservation. The initiative also resonates with the Japanese government
efforts for conservation and restoration for SATOYAMA, socio-ecological production
landscape. At the G8 meeting for environmental ministers in Kobe 2008, biodiversity
was one of the three elements of the agenda. The need to pay sufficient attention to
the linkage between climate change and biodiversity was pointed out. Later, the
implementation of the “Kobe Call for Action for Biodiversity” including the SATOYAMA
Initiative was proposed by Japan.
MEXT (Ministry of Education, Science, Sports, Culture and Technology) allocates a
substantial budget to MUE to promote UNESCO Associated Schools in Japan as key
ESD sites in the formal education setting.
WHO?
Type of organization Local authority

managing the
initiative
18
Partners/stakeholders Local authorities

involved Schools
Tajiri Local Office of the City of Osaki: coordination of the initiative
Miyagi University of Education (MUE)-Environmental Education Centre: support of
local schools, teacher education
Farmers’ Cooperatives: participants
Osaki City Primary and Secondary Schools: beneficiaries/ participants in learning
activities that motivate farmers’ involvement in the initiative
Osaki City Junior High Schools and Miyagi Prefectural High Schools: exchanges
of experience with schools outside of the region
NGO Rice Paddies (Tambo): organization of learning activities for farmers and
students
NGO Japanese Association for Wild Geese Protection (JAWGP): organization of
learning activities for stakeholders
NGO Kabukuri Wetlands Club (Numakko Kurabu): Kabukuri Wetlands Club grew
out of the Executive Committee of Kabukuri-numa Expeditions (nature observation
tours and flora and fauna surveys started in 1996). The Club makes
recommendation and proposals to administrative authorities for conservation and
wise use of Kabukuri-numa. It also carries out environmental education
programme in cooperation with the Prefecture of Miyagi and MUE.
Persons involved Annually about 800 persons participate in formal and non-formal ESD
programmes organized in Osaki-Tajiri. The rough breakdown is as follows: 400
local farmers (20 participants/flora & fauna survey x 20 times/year = 400), 200-250
school children (50 students/school x 4 -5 schools/year = 200), 40 school
teachers, 15 local governmental officials and 100 local citizens.
WHAT?
Educational / learning Formal: Primary education; Teacher education; Secondary education

setting and level Non-formal: adult technical and vocational education and training (TVET) for
farmers
Informal: local events such as festivals
WHY?
initiative
Themes Environment
Biodiversity
Economy
Sustainable production and consumption
Rural development
WHEN?
Starting year and since 1996 to present

duration
WHERE?
Geographical setting Local: Ramsar wetlands and rice paddies of the Tajiri district of the City of Osaki
19
METHODOLOGY
Methods & 1) Flora and fauna surveys in rice paddies: During especially spring and summer,
approaches stakeholders including rice farmers, school children and teachers engage in field
surveys, identification and inventorying of life forms (the flora and fauna) in the
rice paddies designated as part of Ramsar wetlands. These surveys in rice
paddies are supported by local environmental NGOs and designed to enhance
the participants’ knowledge, skills and attitudes about biodiversity conservation
in rice paddies as replacement habitat for diverse wetland species.
2) Teacher training: MUE offers hands-on workshops to equip teachers with
knowledge and skills to conduct flora and fauna surveys in rice paddies, as part
of teacher retraining courses it developed in response to a new MEXT scheme
for teaching license renewal introduced in 2009. MUE also delivers teacher
training courses on rice paddies as learning sites, in collaboration with the Osaki
City Board of Education.
3) Awareness raising: Awareness raising through fairs, festivals and farm visits is
also employed. As part of the awareness program, Osaki City holds annual
festivals, including Ramsar Festival and Kodomo Biodaibashiti Festival, during
which local junior and high school students and invited students from abroad
report on their research about biodiversity in the rice paddy ecosystem and the
wise use approaches to wetlands. In winter, schoolchildren go to the wetlands to
observe migratory birds that feed and nest there. There are also farm visits
where the farmers teach children about the practices of sustainable wet-rice
agriculture that assist in the enhancement of biodiversity.
Working primarily Japanese
language(s)
Budget and Learning activities at the Ramsar wetlands in Osaki-Tajiri are covered by various
funding sources sources, but mainly by the City of Osaki, which allocates 60 million yen for wetland
rehabilitation. The Ministry of the Environment also allocates 60 million yen for the
same purpose. Financial resources have been allocated for the maintenance of
environmental learning sites by the City. ESD activities targeted at farmers and
school children are supported by in-kind contributions by local NGOs. Three NGOs
(about 45 persons) are involved in delivering learning activities in the rice paddies, and
at least 100 persons coming from outside of Osaki-Tajiri (about 10 researchers and
other guests) participate in these activities as resource persons and observers
annually. Higher education institutions also support ESD in Osaki-Tajiri. For example,
teacher and farmer training courses for para-taxonomy for rice paddies have been
organized by MUE and Hokkaido University Museum.
Evaluation of No, but the case of Kabukuri-numa and the surrounding rice paddies has been
initiative described as “good practices” in biodiversity education, ESD, and social learning for
sustainable development by the different ministries and UNU.
Results Both sustainable development (SD) and ESD outcomes are discussed below.
SD outcomes (Impact of broad-based social learning in the region since the mid
1990s): Overcoming the initial antagonism between those who called for the
protection of wild geese and rice farmers who viewed waterfowl primarily as a rice-
eating pest, the City of Osaki is aspiring to promote both environmental and economic
agendas at the local level. The most obvious result of multi-stakeholder social learning
in Osaki-Tajiri is the 2005 designation of Kabukuri-numa and surrounding rice-paddies
as a Ramsar site. Another indicator of the impact of social learning is the increasing
number of farmers that adopt agricultural practices more sustainable than
conventional farming methods heavily dependent upon agrichemicals. Engaging in
organic farming now makes not only environmental but also agronomic sense in
Osaki-Tajiri. The case also offers and inspiring example of a local voluntary initiative
that has successfully mobilized the support of public authorities at different levels
(local, national, international).
Learning outcomes (Impact of ESD activities at Ramsar rice paddies [see section D]):
The participants experience a sense of accomplishment for being part of cataloguing
the life forms in the rice fields and a sense of co-ownership of natural resources. The
initiative enables the participants, particularly the students, to carry out simple
20
research projects and to act as citizen scientists. The local stakeholders develop a
broader awareness of their coexistence with nature (social-ecological system), which
in turn gives them a ‘sense of place’ in the area. Teachers who become part of the
learning process later leave the area through job transfer and carry the acquired
knowledge and skills to other localities/school districts where such competencies
could become useful. Overall, the effort to equip local citizens with both scientific and
local knowledge, understanding and skills for conservation could serve as
preventative measures against biodiversity loss in the region. Participants also learn
about sustainable agricultural practices that enhance biodiversity and help revamp the
local economy.
Strengths (a) involvement of diverse stakeholders, including farmers, teachers, researchers,

NGOs and governments; (b) synergies and trust among organizations working to
address differing concrete challenges such as waterfowl conservation and
revitalization of the rural community, (c) consideration of economic aspects of
sustainable development and livelihoods of local farmers; (d) effective collaboration
between formal and non-formal education; and (d) support from the local and national
authorities. For example, the City compensates farmers for crop damage caused by
waterfowl.
Weaknesses & Due to the large size of the City of Osaki, which was born as a result of the merger of
risks municipalities in 2006, the Osaki City Board of Education’s involvement has not been
very active. Since the initiative is not currently included in the mainstream curriculum,
extra time and logistical arrangement are needed to organize ESD activities at the rice
paddies. Also, at times difficulties arise in scheduling field activities since they have
lower priority than other regular school activities. There is no mechanism/framework in
place to ensure continuity of ESD activities among students outside the local area or
when they grow past the current participating age group (primary and secondary
school level).
Constraints
Problems Given the incompatibility between WFRF and the modern regime of intensive
encountered agriculture that has been promoted by agricultural administration and chemical and
pharmaceutical agribusinesses for decades, WFRF farmers still constitute a tiny
minority of farmers in Osaki-Tajiri.
Unresolved Unresolved structural issues: There is antagonism between ‘organic’ and
issues ‘conventional’ farmers. Conventional farmers continue to consider the migratory birds
as rice-eating pests. Continuous dialogue among the farmers might help solve the
problem, but the industrial structure of agriculture must be changed in order to make
organic farming a norm in Osaki-Tajiri and beyond. There are also seemingly
irreversible problems of youth out-migration from the rural community, the aging of the
farming population and a downward spiral of rice prices. Although rice harvest from
WFRF sells at a much higher price than rice grown by conventional methods, there
are uncertainties about the market development for organic rice production in the long
run.
Technical and institutional problems: The transfer of ‘experienced’ teachers regarding
the initiative from the Osaki-Tajiri area to another obviously creates a void that could
hamper the smooth running of the initiative. To solve this issue, the ‘experienced’
teachers should be granted some concession regarding mandatory transfer if they are
deemed key for the continuation of the program among students. A better solution
may be to put in place a mechanism to train more teachers for the initiative.
Perspectives
Conditions for The key is to build and maintain an equitable partnership of the combined expertise of
successful professions, community, NGOs and governments.
replication
Why do you The story of ESD in Osaki-Tajiri demonstrates an ideal case where local problems
consider this a and issues of immediate, visible and tangible concern have been tackled through
good practice? multi-stakeholder social learning and more organized ESD activities. The case is
informative because it simultaneously addresses very concrete regional challenges of
wetland conservation and revitalization of the rural community. Formal and non-formal
ESD activities currently carried out in Osaki-Tajiri build on the local history of gradually
changing people’s perceptions and actions with regard to waterfowl protection and
21
rice farming. The case is encouraging because it is not simply a story of

environmental NGOs enlightening ‘ignorant’ farmers but a story of co-learning and
building trust between environmentalists and the local community. It is a moving
example of a local voluntary initiative that eventually changed an official vision of the
City to a more sustainable one. As ESD activities in Osaki-Tajiri get more formalized
and institutionalized, it is important not to forget a local history of communal self-
determination and empowerment.
References:
Mochizuki, Yoko (2007). “Partnerships between Environmentalists and Farmers for Sustainable
Development: A Case of Kabukur-numa and the Adjacent Rice Fields in the Town of Tajiri in Northern
Japan.” In Arjen Wals (Ed.), Social Learning towards a Sustainable World. Wageningen Academic
Publishers.
22
4. ESD as a Tool for Creating Development and Sustainability in Project-

Work (Case Study: Mongolia)
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), Mongolia
CONTACT Deutsche Gesellschaft Für Technische Zusammenarbeit Gmbh

Postfach 5180, 65726 Eschborn
Germany (Project: Mongolia)
Telephone: + 49 6196/79-6495
E-mail: Barbara.Schichler@gtz.de Internet: www.gtz.de
Barbara Schichler, Technical Advisor, GTZ Programme Climate Change and
Biodiversity, Mongolia
DESCRIPTION As part of the GTZ programme Climate Change and Biodiversity in Mongolia, this
project has taken a very innovative 3D-approach by engaging in three different
systems: the informal/media system, the formal/education system and the
decentral/local governance system (Protected Areas) – and linking them while
working on three different levels (the institutional level, the organisational level, and
the individual level). The project was striving to create and facilitate linkages,
synergies and networks between those systems and levels – and thus contribute to
common learning processes leading to increased sustainability and development in
Mongolia.
Innovative about the project was also the process to select themes onto which the
project and stakeholders chose to focus their work. Starting point for this was the
concern of the people and their affectedness that was evaluated through the
question: What issues are of your greatest concern?
Five themes were thus evaluated through workshops, interviews, baselines and
questionnaire studies: these were air pollution, water scarcity/pollution, solid waste
disposal, forest issues (forest management, illegal logging and poaching) and
pasture degradation.
As a summary, within the media system, the engagement was with media institutions,
and in the development of high-quality media products and the training support to
media producers. In the formal system, the engagement was with local pilot schools,
the elaboration of local ESD curricula, and their linkage with the Mongolian
University of Education as well as ongoing processes (curicula development) on a
national level. As regards the local governance system, the engagement was on the
establishment of information centres, the training of their managers, park staff and
rangers in protected areas.
Capacity development, the generation of common resource materials, and the
cooperation and coordination among all actors in the field were the tenor.
Among the innovations of the initiative have been:
1) The application of a 3D-approach: by working in 3 systems (informal/media,
formal/education, decentral/local governance) and the facilitation and support
to linkages and networks among them, the project had chosen a very
innovative approach for the contribution to sustainable development.
2) The application of the concept of Affectedness: by performing interviews with
local people in rural and urban areas of Mongolia of all ages and
backgrounds (incl.1000 participants), the project focused on the core of ESD:
What is the concern of the people? From this, five themes were selected, to
which the stakeholders of all systems and levels were generating materials
and resources as well as trainings.
3) The application of Capacity WORKS: by using the GTZ management tool
including five success factors (strategy, cooperation, steering, processes,
learning&innovation) the project had taken an innovative approach in the
design and structure of the project.
4) The application of LORET (Locally Relevant Themes): by applying the model
of LORET, the project facilitated the development of local ESD curricula in 11
pilot schools – those are pilot examples for the curriculum development on
the national level.
23
Creating Networks through ESD– infocenter managers, park staff and teachers
creating networks at the workshop in Tsetserleg, November 2008.
OBJECTIVES
Relate to national The overall goal of the project was to raise environmental awareness and improve
priorities environmental behaviour, thus enhancing the conservation and sustainable
management of natural resources in Mongolia. The goal included the following
objectives:
Objective 1: Environmental awareness in Mongolia is increased by 2010 and beyond
(informal/media system).
Objective 2: Capacity on application of ESD in the Mongolian education system in
accordance with national curricula is improved by the end of 2010 (forma/education
system).
Objective 3: Environmental communication structures are strengthened in GTZ focus
areas by 2010 and beyond (decentral/local governance system).
The project’s goal and objectives were in full agreement with the MDGs (GOAL 1 -
Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, GOAL 2 - Achieve universal primary
education, GOAL 7 - Ensure environmental sustainability, and GOAL 8 - Develop a
global partnership for development), as well as the Decade of ESD, to which the
Mongolian government had formally committed. Against the background of the
Mongolian Government’s engagement in the development of new school curricula and
its adaptation from a 10-year to a 12-year school system, the project took the
opportunity to contribute to link up the ESD process with the development of new
school curricula.
WHO?
Type of organization Governmental

managing the
initiative Implementer: Project Component within GTZ Programme Climate Change and
Biodiversity
Governmental Organisations to implement the Component: Ministry of Nature,
Environment and Tourism (MNET) and Ministry of Education, Culture and Science
(MECS)
Pre-school institutions
Schools
24
Non-governmental organizations Private sector

Media
The key stakeholders are from 3 systems and on 3 levels:
System Level Individual Organisational Institutional

Media System -Quiza -Institute for the National
(Informal) (Mongolian Future NGO University of
singer who got (production of Mongolia:
engaged in the international development of
project for TUNZA magazine journalist text
events, in Mongolian books and
including the context, youth trainings for
generation of a peer education at ongoing
biodiversity pilot schools, jounalists
rap- song) organization of
-journalists events)
students from -People Centered
University of Conservation
Mongolia NGO (support to
-journalists production of
from free radio
journalist club programmes, info
events for
journalists,
support to TV
documentaries)
-Ecological
Education NGO
(production of
media products
like books,
posters and
brochures)
-NAB TV studio
(production of TV
clips on selected
themes)
-Education TV
(production of TV
series
programmes on
selected themes)
Education -Local pilot 11 pilot schools (5 -Ministry of

System school in rural area and 5 Education,
(Formal) teachers , in Ulaanbaatar, Culture and
school incl. 1 Science (MECS,
managers, and kindergarden): institutional
directors of 11 production of local partner):
pilot schools: curricula based on elaboration of
in-service the principles of curricula on
training on the ESD and in- national level
application of service training (MECS) – local
ESD level (project)
-Trainers of the
University of -University of
Education, Education: pre-
Mongolia: pre- service training
service training and
on the development of
application of ESD indicators
ESD for 11
departments per
teaching subject
25
for the
elaboration of
curricula based
on ESD
Local Information 11 information Ministry of

Governance center centers in strictly Nature,
System managers and protected areas: Environment
(Decentral) protected area establishment of and Tourism
park staff of information (institutional
altogether 5 centers and partner)
parks training of park
staff, rangers and
information center
managers
Persons involved It is a waterfall system, since there is Capacity Development Trainings of Trainers
happening:
Direct Learners in the
-Media System: National University of Mongolia (Journalism Department), 3
Environmental NGOs and 2 TV studios (approx. 30 people)
-School System: Teachers from 11 Pilot Schools (approx. 220 people) and
University (approx. 30people)
-Local Governance System: Infocenter Managers and Parks Staff from 11
infocenters (approx. 40 people)
Total: approx. 320 people on first direct learning level
The number of indirect learners is a multiplying figure resulting from the use of
products and trainings reaching out by the media, the education and the local
governance system: the Mongolian public (total of 2.5 Mio. people with TV
access), the school children and their parents of 11 pilot schools and the
university students of the Mongolian University of Education (approx. total of 4000
children/students and their parents/families) and the users of the 11 information
centers (herders, natural resource user groups, village people, school children,
teachers, University students, tourists….)
WHAT?

setting and level Non-formal: see table above
Informal: see table above
WHY?
Tools and materials
Themes Overcoming poverty
Cultural diversity
Environment
Climate change
Water
Biodiversity
Natural resource management
Democracy
Governance
Responsibility in local and global contexts
Air Pollution, Solid Waste Reduction
26
WHEN?
Starting year and 2008- 2010

duration
WHERE?
Geographical setting whole Mongolia and with focus on GTZ pilot regions (Khangai Mountain Range
and Khentie Forest Areas) including one urban area (Ulaanbaatar)
METHODOLOGY
Methods & 3 D-approach – for project strategy and structure

approaches The concept of affectedness – for project implementation on the activity level
Capacity Works - for management structure and design
The LORET model – for the development of local school curricula based on ESD
Working Mongolian, English, and German
language(s)
Budget and Budget: 1.3 Mio. EURO (0.8 Mio Euro from the Dutch Government, 0.5 Mio Euro BMZ
funding sources so called ‘Sondermittel’)
On behalf of: BMZ, Federal Ministry for Economical Cooperation and Development
Co-financing: Dutch Government
Evaluation of there is one running now; half yearly evaluations

initiative Box – Extract of Study (Comparison between June 2009 and June 2010)
Examples of the survey carried out among teachers:
a) The percentage of teachers who thought that ESD should be applied in all
subject courses has increased from 13% in 2009 to 46% in 2010.
b) In 2010, the number of teachers using ESD concept in class became 55% (cf
2009 it was 0%). An additional 42% of teachers were planning to apply ESD based
teaching in the future (cf. 2009 it was 40%).
c) In 2009, 14% of teachers felt the need to revise the methodology of teaching
which has increased to 44% in 2010. This shows greater knowledge and
understanding of ESD among teachers and illustrates future needs for improving
methodology.
d) 65% of teachers replied in 2009 that they had insufficient knowledge and skills of
ESD which has reduced to 54% in 2010.
e) Almost 50% of teachers developed and used new exercises that include a higher
student participation in 2010. Another 50% of teachers added new content in their
teaching material related to sustainable development (SD) and local environmental
problems. These numbers show that teachers trained by the project acquired
sufficient knowledge and skills on ESD to start the integration of ESD concept into
their secondary school curricula.
f) The surveys also showed that the teachers also received more support and
understanding from their school management in ESD work, which is indicated by the
reduction of the number of teachers who viewed this as a problem (40% in 2009
reduced down to less than 20% in 2010).
Results By applying a holistic 3D-approach (3 systems, 3levels – see above), using the
concept of ‘affectedness’ and ‘locally relevant themes’, the project has clearly focused
on the educational and learning dimensions of sustainable development. The
application of the principles of ESD have been introduced in all 3 systems, on all 3
levels – and been integrated and applied in the development of resource materials as
well as capacity development trainings. Especially sustainable the project is thought
to be by the application of ESD in the formal education system with the development
of local pilot school curricula. As one of the ESD experts from Sweden put it:
“If you reach the youngsters below 18 years of age, if you reach their parents and if
you reach the teachers of your country you can easily calculate that you reach more
27
than half of your population in daily communication. That is a "Battering Ram" to reach
the population in your country. It is also the only and a superior way of reaching the
coming generation that will hold key positions - herders, drivers, engineers,
businessmen, social workers, doctors, politicians in concern of a desirable and
sustainable development of Mongolia” (Staffan Swanberg, Ramboll Natura AB).
The project offers new and creative solutions to solving problems among different
stakeholders from different levels and systems - by exchanging information,
knowledge, and materials, by sharing lessons learnt, and by learning together –
through the networks that were created. We can say that the networks and people
that teamed up through common visions and work on commonly defined local
relevant themes showed great enthusiasm and motivation for collaboration
The project made a difference and demonstrated positive and tangible impacts by
applying AFFETEDNESS as a starting point- asking people what is their concern and
then used that for guiding the process. Tangible results of this are:
- in the informal/media system: through a total number of 92 media products that were
developed based on the principles of ESD and calling for great resonance among the
Mongolian public (Products included TV clips, TV documentaries, TV and radio
programmes, posters, leaflets, books and a rap landing in the Mongolian hit parade).
-in the formal/education system: through the participatory development of 11 local
pilot school curricula including school development plans according to the principles
of ESD – that are integrated and models for creating replicability and also influencing
national policy levels;
-in the decentral/local governance system: through the establishment of information
centers in strictly protected areas, including the training of park staff, information
center managers and rangers. The Ministry decided to put aside funding for each of
the centers since they have run so well.
Three years of project time is probably too short to measure what the project
contributed to sustained improvement of living conditions, however it is obvious that
both teachers from pilot schools and information centre managers have been inspired
in their work – which will contribute to sustainable development.
An extensive awareness-behaviour study that was carried out in the first year of the
project, was repeated in the third and last project year – accounts for the
demonstation of innovation and success of the project work.
Strengths Communication of ESD with key stakeholders and decision makers at/before project
start - i.e. key stakeholders (project team and key counter parts) should have a
thorough understanding of and live ESD in daily practice.
Creation and Facilitation of Identification Building - i.e. a figure like Ghengis Khan in
Mongolia, a national hero, has a lot of value for project implementation purposes.
Facilitation of Network Building – that was almost the most important of the project
outcome: common learning by doing, sharing, linking up, synergising, understanding,
supporting each other, learning together.
The Usage of Diagrams, Charts, Pictures – was a very helpful tool for creating
common conceptual backgrounds and visions of all stakeholders. Over time, these
charts took shape and were developed into new diagrams and tools for working
together.
Testing and implemention on local level – anchor ing on national and institutional
level :
What is common knowledge: even if you have a global issue or work at national level,
always try to test and implement on the local level. The ESD concept encourages
bottom up approach and the implementation on local level. The didactic principle
thereby: what is relevant and maybe even visible outside the classroom windows is
much easier to understand and build skills from.
ESD toolbox: a checklist for testing your approach – a tool box that was developed
during project time can be very helpful for repetition and the application of ESD in your
project : for generating a greater impact through ESD.
Weaknesses & Changing project partners especially on institutional level – but also on organizational
risks and individual level there is risk for losing continuation and momentum, especially if a
project duration is only two or three years.
28
Constraints
If you start an ESD project, it should be integrated from the start into the overall
conceptual approach of the programme or project as well as in the institutional setting
it is to function. That requires openness and understanding of the ESD concept by the
key stakeholders responsible for project implementation. If not enough time and room
should can be given to build up a common understanding and common vision for the
project team on how ESD can contribute to a greater impact of the overall project, the
project is at risk.
At the same level, the project team should not just talk theory but also apply ESD
principles in daily practice. That requires a proper and good knowledge of ESD, an
open mind, a focus on the target group rather than the target, and patience and time.
Fast results are often less sustainable than results that are the outcome of a process
based on participation, affectedness and local requirements.
Perspectives
Why do you Because of the networks that were created, because people were motivated to
consider this a continue, because the application of ESD in project work together contributes to
good practice? sustainability.
29
5. In Jordan, Biodiversity Concepts Available for all Students

Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature, Jordan
CONTACT The Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature RSCN

1215, Jubaiha 111941, Jordan
Jordan
Telephone: +96265337931/2 Fax: +96265357618
E-mail: mervtbat@rscn.org.jo Internet: www.rscn.org.jo
mervtbat@yahoo.com
Mervat Batarseh, Head of Environmental Education Section
DESCRIPTION The initiative has focused on integrating biodiversity concepts including those related
to the herbal and medicinal plants HMP in the national curricula1 in Jordan. These
concepts have been integrated in five related subjects. Moreover there have been
more other four subjects targeted when implementing a project for integrating HMP
concepts focusing on vocational subjects in addition to the scientific ones. These
concepts have covered grades 1 to 12. RSCN contributed to developing the content of
biodiversity concepts based on previous work on doing a reference matrix for
biodiversity concepts implemented by other institutions.
RSCN as a Non-governmental Organization started this initiative by its own because
its mission focuses basically on the conservation of biodiversity of Jordan.
Furthermore, RSCN‟s 2004 – 2009 strategy had an operational objective to influence
the content of the national curricula and textbooks focusing on biodiversity and key
environmental issues through well-educated educators.
Taking the ERfKE2 project as an opportunity, there has been a partnership with MOE
– Curricula and Textbooks Directorate whose members were involved in the
development of writing the general and specific learning outcomes. And authors
(teachers) were involved in developing the content of the textbooks. As a part of the
initiative, integrating biodiversity concepts in the national curricula took place in
between 2004 – 2008. On the other hand, there was a project for HMP (2007 – 2010)
funded by WB3 through MOP4. As a result, there were more than 30 persons involved
in developing the textbooks, around 60.000 teachers who teach these curricula and
about 1.500.000 students, in both levels primary and secondary, learning from these
curricula. Consequently, RSCN afforded to contribute to the national work of ESD.
Since the initiative had been begun, most of the new added concepts; such as
biodiversity as a concept itself and its benefits, as well as herbal and medicinal plants
and its values, were new to the curricula and the rest were complementary to the
available ones. In addition, considering the local culture through integrating herbal and
medicinal plants usage concepts, and considering regional/international cooperation
through integrating environmental management and environmental legislations under
the umbrella of biodiversity conservation were totally new to the curricula as well. “The
national curricula, when dealing with the international conventions related to
biodiversity, show some aspects of the regional and international cooperation.” said
Mr. Saleh Al Omari.5 Furthermore, the initiative‟s concepts were integrated in
geography subject for the secondary grades for the first time whereby around 70.000
students got benefited every year. And what made the initiative appear new and
special was integrating the concepts among grades and subjects from grade 1 to
grade 12. Finally this initiative has been considered complementary to RSCN‟s non-
formal educational programs with schools (Nature Conservation Clubs Network and
Nature Reserves Educational Programs).
1 The national curricula and school textbooks are studied by all students in all schools all over Jordan
2 Education Reform for Knowledge Economy is a project implemented by the Ministry of Education MOE
3 World Bank
4 Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation
5 Interview with Mr. Saleh Al Omary, Geography Curricula Member – Ministry of Education
30
OBJECTIVES 1. to raise students‟ awareness of biodiversity conservation amongst all schools that
are located in all inhabited areas reaching all communities, in relation to SD
2. to support RSCN‟s non-formal EE programs with such a formal system of
integrating biodiversity concepts in the national curricula
3. to respond to the national agenda that listed biodiversity conservation on the
environmental priorities
4. to achieve the goals of Jordan‟s National Strategy of Biodiversity Conservation that
consists of integrating biodiversity concepts in the formal education, and by the
regional and international environmental agreements such as CBD, and UNCCD
signed by Jordanian Government in order to contribute to the sustainable
development
METHODOLOGY
Methods & RSCN in cooperation with the Directorate of Curricula and Textbooks did the following:
approaches
1. Quick revision of the concepts included in the biodiversity reference matrix with
members of Curricula and Textbooks Authoring Committees, however, for the HMP
project a separate matrix of the concepts was developed by scientific experts in this
field
2. Encouraging members of Curricula and Textbooks Authoring Committees to turn
these concepts into general and specific learning outcomes when developing the
framework of all subjects‟ curricula (taking the scope of concepts within the different
subjects in each grade into consideration)
3. Developing the content in all its types (lessons, texts, graphs, maps, etc…), and
distributing it in different targeted subjects; while the HMP‟s learning activities were
collected in a teacher‟s guide book and an interactive CD for students
4. Conducting training workshops for the subjects‟ supervisors through the HMP
project
Working Arabic
language(s)
Results RSCN and the Directorate of Curricula and Textbooks scanned biodiversity concepts
in the developed curricula and did a special report (to be approved and published
soon). After that we came up with the following results:
1. Learning outcomes are now affected by biodiversity concepts including those
related to herbal and medicinal plants
2. Around 80% of the concepts included in the reference matrix were integrated in the
curricula
3. Variety of presenting the concepts and integrating them through student-based
leaning-teaching strategies
4. Biodiversity concept itself, eco-systems and degradation are obviously shown
within textbooks pages
5. All biodiversity concepts are gradually integrated in accordance from grade 1 – 9
and doubled for grade 10 and after
6. Knowledge domain occupied 50 – 60% of biodiversity concepts, whereas skills and
attitude domains varied according to grades and subjects
“Biodiversity concepts according to its levels were integrated in details and obviously
in the related subjects through General Science, Biology and Geography.” said Ms.
Wafa Al Abdallat6
“There are a lot of information about animals and plants in Jordan such as Azraq
31
Killifish. Curricula offered this bunch of information easily to the students.” Mrs. Laila
Freijat7
“As I learned from the textbooks, I have to maintain the natural environment because
our life is eventually affected.” Haya Nabulsi8
6Interview with Ms. Wafa Al Abdallat, Curricula Director – Ministry of Education
7 Interview with Mrs. Laila Freijat, Earth Science and Environment Teacher – Ein Jalut
School
8Interview with Haya Nabulsi, 1st secondary class student – Ein Jalut School
Strengths 1. MOE‟s open-mindedness of developing environmental concepts in the national

curricula
2. Participatory Approach adopted by both RSCN and the MOE working on integrating
biodiversity concepts
3. RSCN‟s Experience of environmental management and conservation in the
Jordanian context helped in sharing local environmental case studies and issues with
students
4. “One of the success factors is timing as this initiative took advantage of developing
the curricula which is the time to integrating of biodiversity concepts in the curricula”
Mr. Saleh Al Omary said.
5. “Methodology adopted in implementing the initiative was practical and it was one of
the strengths.” Ms. Wafa Al Abdallat
Weaknesses & 1. Some aspects of the reference matrix were not integrated in the national curricula
risks as expected such as „biodiversity and community‟ and some concepts related to the
aspect of the Importance of biodiversity
2. Some concepts were repeated many times
3. All teachers might not be able to deliver the concepts as expected
Constraints
Problems Financial issue was the biggest challenge when implementing the initiative, but RSCN
encountered allocated part of its own budget to cover some expenses in addition to the in kind
contribution
Providing each teacher with a copy of Teacher‟s Guide was not applicable because of
the limited budget. Therefore, each school was provided with a copy of Teacher‟s
Guide
Unresolved Biodiversity Concepts Training program of all teachers and Nature Conservation
issues Clubs supervisors was not held for financial reasons
Perspectives
Conditions for The initiative can be replicable and adopted by an NGO interested in such an initiative
successful and having specialized center for studies and researches considering the local issues
replication as well as having strong relationship with MOE or institutions responsible of
developing curricula.
Why do you Because it shows a good example of cooperative work between an NGO and a
consider this a governmental body that guarantees sustainability of learning for students, as well as
good practice? the initiative‟s importance to reach all students in the country.
32
6. 2010: the International Year of Biodiversity in School!

Austrian Educational Competence Centre of Biology, Austria
CONTACT Austrian Educational Competence Centre of Biology (AECC-Bio), University of Vienna

Althanstr. 14, UZA II, 1090 Wien
Austria
Telephone: 0043-1-4277/71000 Fax: 0043-1-4277/9710
E-mail: martin.scheuch@univie.ac.at, or aeccbio@univie.ac.at Internet:
www.aeccbio.univie.ac.at
Mag. Martin Scheuch
DESCRIPTION In the course of the International Year of Biodiversity, teachers and experts post a
monthly sequence of topics relevant to the field of biodiversity for use in schools and
informal education (www.aeccbio.univie.ac.at/2010-jahr-der-biodiversitaet/). The
topics should meet following criteria: seasonal relevance, equal presence of the three
levels of biodiversity, show examples, present excursion spots throughout Austria,
different life forms including plants, animals, humans, whole ecosystems and uses of
natural products. Other aspects include local as well as regional issues up to the
global dimension of biodiversity and the crisis of biodiversity loss. The structure of the
monthly topics consists of a comprehensive text explaining the biological phenomena,
which serves as the starting point for the learning sequence to be developed. In
addition we offer material for educators including articles, work sheets, links and more
possibilities. The realization of inquiry learning for students (K1 to K12) in a broad
sense is important.
Our initiative has the format of a phenologically ordered calendar and is published via
worldwideweb (www.aeccbio.univie.ac.at/2010-jahr-der-biodiversitaet/). Throughout
2010, each month an interesting topic in the field of biodiversity is prepared for the
use in school and informal education. What are criteria for these topics? The topics
are seasonally structured and follow a phonological cycle – e.g. amphibian acoustic
diversity of Austria are presented in spring, at a time, when the frogs are croaking,
dandelion is an example for genetic diversity when dandelion is at full bloom. Other
criteria are the equal presence of the three levels of biodiversity, examples excursion
spots throughout Austria and the different life forms including plants (dandelion),
animals (bats, birds) humans (diversity of the human species), whole ecosystems
(e.g. sports ground, alpine ecosystems) and even uses of natural products (apples,
spices). Another range of aspects included span from local or regional issues up to
the global dimension of biodiversity and the crisis of loss of biodiversity. The structure
of the monthly topics consists of a comprehensive text explaining the biological
phenomena, which serves as the starting point for the learning sequence to be
developed. In addition we offer material for educators including articles, work sheets,
links and more possibilities. All sequences aim to activate the students to take control
of their own learning. This includes field work, preparing and conducting panel
discussions, researching etc. Over the year all levels of education from K1 to K12 will
be able to find topics for their use.
33
OBJECTIVES
Relate to national The loss of biodiversity is a concern among the Austrian population, but the general
priorities opinion is, that this is only a global problem elsewhere and not in Austria.
Nevertheless 33% of all vertebrates and 40% of all vascular plants in Austria are
endangered. Therefore one topic of the nationwide 2010 campaign
www.vielfaltleben.at is raising the awareness of the native endangered biodiversity. In
our opinion an educational aim of biology education should reach even further: firstly,
getting to know biodiversity, secondly realizing it as a resource for one’s life and finally
getting actively involved in taking counter measures in the biodiversity crisis.
WHO?
Type of organization Academia

managing the
initiative
Partners/stakeholders Schools
involved Vocational education institutions
For the development of the monthly topics we (biology educators) collaborate with
scientists from the Faculty of Life Sciences of the University of Vienna and
teachers from different schools. This cooperation is based on the topic; we are
looking for the respective expert in this biological field and in the educational
preparation e.g. teachers with experience in dealing with this topic at school.
We also provide evaluative support – we are working with the monthly topics in in-
service-teacher trainings in order to obtain feedback by the practitioners
themselves, so that we can update the topics already online and improve our
future work.
Persons involved The learners are students from K1 to K12-level. Due to the design of the learning
sequences the students have the possibility to actively engage in the learning
process and are asked to follow their interests via means of the different inquiry
learning aspects.
We consider ourselves as learners too – working together with biologists as well
as educators – we refine the topics on a broad basis and get to know our blind
spots.
WHAT?
Educational / learning Formal: Further and higher education; Primary education; Teacher education;
setting and level Secondary education; Professional education
Non-formal: e.g. rangers of National Parks, self-employed environmental
educators, biologists, NGOs
WHY?
Tools and materials
Themes Ethics
Citizenship
Environment
Climate change
Water
Biodiversity
Democracy
34
Economy
Rural development
WHEN?
Starting year and The initiative was started in early 2010 with the aim to continue during the entire
duration International Year of Biodiversity 2010. After this year, the topics will remain online
and will be used in teacher professional development courses. Moreover, they will
be further developed paying special attention to the feedback gained. A brochure
with an accompanying DVD for the materials is planned.
WHERE?
Geographical setting National: The topics are chosen for Austria, but all the time connected from the
local dimension to the global dimension of biodiversity.
METHODOLOGY
Methods & The World Wide Web serves as an accessible platform for educators. In
approaches developing the topics we applied many criteria to find the best 12 monthly topics
out of about 60 ideas resulting from the brainstorming. For each topic the focus
was chosen out of the three levels of biodiversity, the different aspects of
sustainability, the range from local to global issues etc by the group of developers.
Biodiversity presents itself as an ideal postmodern educational topic (Dreyfus, A.,
Wals, A. E. J. u. Weelie, D. v. 1999). Biodiversity is a Postmodern Theme for
Environmental Education (Canadian Journal of Environmental Education, 4,).The
methodological approach for the learners is the inquiry learning in all its aspects
(from literature research to discovery learning – definitions e.g. NRC 2000: Inquiry
and the National Science Education Standards. A Guide for Teaching and
Learning: National Research Council). The learners should have the possibility to
find individual approaches to the topic in order to explore the variety of
exchangeable perspectives on one topic and to ensure that the learning
competences themselves can be promoted.
Working German
language(s)
Budget and Own resources of the AECC-Bio and the faculty, mostly via working time (average of
funding sources 80-120 hours per monthly topic).
Evaluation of As the project is still under way only formative evaluation could be done. So far we
initiative have monitored the hits on our website and the subsites each month, had e-mail-
contact with interested users, and had discussions within the team of biology
educators etc. In addition, there has been feedback from teachers to further develop
the already released topics and the integration of their ideas of the topics to come.
Results Our Website http://aeccbio.univie.ac.at/2010-jahr-der-biodiversitaet/ has been online
since January 2010 and has received nearly 1500 hits and will remain online after
2010. This year we also offered two in-service teacher training courses, where we
worked with some of the monthly topics to encourage teachers to use them in their
classes and to get feedback for evaluation.
Strengths Due to the fact that this publication is online it is freely accessible. All feedback we
receive can be used to improve the topics, the materials, better pictures can be added
etc. The material is presented in .doc-format for the educators and teachers, so that
they can adapt it to their local needs and to their school surroundings. Two quotes –
one from a teacher: “there should be much more initiatives like this!” and another one:
“the approach to reflect the seasons in the topics is new and great, I can connect the
35
everyday surrounding into my class”. One scientist said:” this is a great possibility to
reach the schools with my latest findings – via school books it would take many
years!”
Weaknesses & At the moment the work load is critical, the coordination is made by one person, and
risks it’s difficult to set meetings where the scientists, the teachers and the biology
educators can work together. The delay of publishing the monthly topics is one result
of these time constraints.
Perspectives
Conditions for We have got the idea that this format – releasing one topic a month via World Wide
successful Web – could be applicable to other issues as well. In German speaking countries for
replication example it is common to nominate a “spider of the year” a “tree of the year” etc. These
“organisms” of the year could also be starting points for continuing this calendar
format. The challenge will be the better planning of the workload.
Why do you Good practice in our view involves many perspectives (scientists, teachers, biology
consider this a educators), is freely available (via www), is reflected and further developed (via
good practice? evaluation and feedback) and promotes flexible material for different learning
environments. Moreover in our department “Austrain Educational Competence Centre
of Biology” research and development are closely linked.
36
7. A Day for Biodiversity

Hochschule für Agrar- und Umweltpaedagogik, Austria
CONTACT Hochschule für Agrar- und Umweltpaedagogik

Angermayergasse 1 A-1130 Wien
Austria
Telephone: +43 1 877 22 66 -0 Fax: +43 1 877 23 61
E-mail: w.linder@objentis.com Internet: www.agrarhochschule.at
Mag. Wilhelm Linder
DESCRIPTION A Day for Biodiversity

Students of an academia present biodiversity to primary school children
The inspiration of children for the variety of the alive world was the main aim of this
project. Concepts of biodiversity and its protection were topics.
Children up to the age of ten became opportunities to involve themselves with
biodiversity in an appropriate way – On the other hand students of the academia
learned methods and conecpts of environmental education in this project. They
exercised, how an abstract concept like biodiversity presented suitable for children.
A stage play called « Our Biodiversity Band », created by the students, formed the
framework for a project day on June 1th, (on occasion of Worlds Environment Day).
After a starting session on stage the pubpils visited a number of various stations,
including research, creative urges and exercising. The program was created by 25
students (environmental education) 170 pupils participated. The concluding
presentation took place in presence of the Austrian Federal Ministrer of Agriculture,
Forestry, Environment and Water Management, Nikolaus Berlakovich.
OBJECTIVES The project had three goals

1. It should enable students to work with pupils on biodiversity
2. It should inspire pupils of elementary schools for bio diversity and
3. It should strenghen the position of the academia as a competence centre for
environmental education
1. Enabling students : The students were very successfull in working with new
and creative methods. When starting the project, cognitive aspekts played a
leading part, during the project, a number of new methods was integrated.
The motivation of learnes, the awaking of enthusiasm for biodiversity
became a main focus – in particular the work on the play was new and
provocative for the students.
2. Inspire pupils: The pupils participated with great enthusiasm in the program.
They also dealed with social and political dimensions of the protection of
nature. They discussed the rolls of political representatives, compiled
37
questions about nature protection and presented these questions to the

Federal Ministrer of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water
Management. The pupils had the opportunity to take something along with
them. Herbs planted by the pupils were given to them in order to remeber
the day and to continue working for biodiversity. Thus the transfer of what
they learned into the everydays life should be facilitated.
3. Competence Centre : The academia invited elementary schools for co-
operation. The response was enormous, due to the limited place only about
160 children could participate, more than 500 children asked for
participation. The academia will intensify cooperations with schools
expecially in the field of Education for Sustainable Development.
Relate to national This project day was dedicated to biodiversity, its value and importance for human
priorities beeings.
Primary school pupils should learn the relevance of natural variety, above all they
should connect positive experiences and feelings with biodiversity. According to the
educational principles and guidelines of the UN-Decade „Education for Sustainable
Development“ a focus was set on methodical variety (creative methods, reseach
learning), in working groups learning by problem solving was exercised. A special
focus was set on cultural variety since many Viennise pupils have an intercultural
background.
The Austrian national strategy „Education for Sustainable Development in Austria
(2008) refers exspecially to the meaning of the networks for education as well as the
impact of teacher training (1.6) The cooperation of an academia with elementary
schools was a special focus for this day. Students of environmental paedagogy
became familiar with methods working with young pupils and acquired competences
in new fields, e.g. method authority also in new ranges like theatre based education.
Furthermore the Austrian strategy askes for learning, how to handle nature
respectfully (5.4.3) The entire project was mainly assigned to this goal.
WHO?

managing the
initiative
involved
Primary Schools in Vienna and Lower Austria
Persons involved 25 Students, 170 primary school children
WHAT?
Educational / learning Primary education

setting and level Teacher education
WHY?
Themes Biodiversity
WHEN?
th
Starting year and 2010; 3 Months Preparation, 1 Day (1 June 2010)
duration
WHERE?
Geographical setting Regional: Primary Schools from Vienna and Lower Austria were participating.
38
METHODOLOGY
Methods & The project is characterised by a variety of methods. Exspecially research learning
approaches was combined with creative, experimental learning. The students involved created a
play: animals and plants living on a meadow reported from their life in order to wake
interest for biodiversity : only if variety is sufficient, animals and plants of a habitat are
able to live in harmony: on stage they are able to play the biodiversity song just if they
meet all together. And at the end the pupils were asked to participate in this play.
At learing stations pupils had the opportunity to seach (e.g. specify paw prints), to do
gardening (planting herbs) or design nature art works
The Students exposed and disputed methods of environmental education, they
developed the stage play, the stations and worked with the pupils. For them this was a
great opportunity to make use of what they learned.
Working German
language(s)
Budget and no special fundings; preparation during lectures; materials for the children (plants,
funding sources experimental kits) were provided by the academia for agricultural and environmental
paedagogy
Evaluation of The project was just evaluated in the context of lectures at the academia. Students
initiative were asked for feedback, this feedback was discussed.
Evaluation at schools did not take place, nor was an external evaluation available.
Results On stage a bird, a mosquito, a snail, and a flower talk about their life, their mutual
dependence: they all need each other. And they have a common goal: they want to
create a music band. But since there are still many living creatures missing, their
music sounds terrible. This is the scene at the beginning of the biodiversity project day
for about 170 primary school pupils.
During the day the pupils should become familiar with the concept of biodiversity. At
stations the children learn in very different ways : playful, when they guess, which
sound belongs to a special bird, creatively, when they design masks, made of natural
materials, searching, when they track paw prints and practically when they composite
muesli mixtures.
At the end another stage performance forms the conclusion of the day: all living
beings of the meadow meet: together with the children the biodiversity song is
performed. Since all of them participate, it becomes a stirring song.
The entire program was developed and performed by students. The play was written,
composed and set in scene by them.
Strengths The headmaster of the academia supported this project and thus made it possible.
A main aim of this project was the preparation of students for their future tasks.
Therefore students were highly motivated to participate actively in this project. Their
engagement and cooperation was far beyond usual partizipation in the context of
academia lectures. for the play were autonomly organized and accomplished,
costumes provided in spare time
Primary school teachers prepared the children well for this day.
There was room for initiatives from students the planning of this project day was not
made by teachers of the academia, on the contrary there were lots of possibilities for
students to form the project day. The idea, to present a play on stage came
exclusively from students.
Weaknesses & Due to the very challanging schedule the organisational aspects of this project were
risks very challanging. The evaluation of the project revealed, that students whished more
participation in organisatorical questions. A challange for the future is to determine a
clear frame for such a project, a better integration into existing lectures and a better
planning for this day.
Problems with rainy wheater were taken into consideration. However on this day the
39
wheater was extremly bad, rainy and cold, therefore outdoor activities with pupils were
impossible. Also in this area planning should be improved.
The primary school teachers were integrated in the program, but this integration
should be improved. Preparing meetings and follow up meetings for evaluation would
be meaningful and should be offered.
The integratiojn of a larger number of teachers from the academia would be
absolutely desirable.
Constraints
Problems Due to short-term planning evaluation and quality assurance was accomplished for
encountered students only. An evaluation for teachers and pupils will be planned for future projects.
Perspectives
Conditions for Topics like biodiversity, climate change or cultural diversity are core subjects for
successful education for sustainable development – but they are also abstract and difficult to
replication understand. It is a challange for education for sustainable development to work with
these themes, to awake enthusiasm and to help to understand these concepts.
Why do you New ways of learning and teaching are necessary. These new ways have to be
consider this a developed, checked out and implemented. Students have to learn to work with these
good practice? topics as early as possible. Networks between schools and academias are necessary,
it also calls for scope for development. Within a narrow schedule it is difficult to
develop new teaching and learning methods. The biodiversity project day was such
place to experience with new approches like playing on stage. Improvisation is part of
this learning.
The primary school pupils did not just learn facts about biodiversity, they also got a
feeling for the value of diversity, for respect for nature.
Co-operation of academies and schools is necessary, in order to develop and test a
new concept, and to prepare sudents for their job as environmental educators.
This project was a step towards forming a network as a laboratory for testing learning
methods.
40
8. Promoting Biodiversity through Environmental Education Centers

Cyprus Pedagogical Institute, Cyprus
CONTACT Cyprus Pedagogical Institute

Makedonias Avenue 40,
2238 Latsia
2252
P.O.BOX 12720
Nicosia
Cyprus
Telephone: +357 22 402352 Fax: +357 22 480505
E-mail: aravella@cytanet.com.cy Internet: http://www.pi.ac.cy
Dr Aravella Zachariou, Coordinator of Environmental Education Unit
DESCRIPTION The particular innovation offers the opportunity to students’, teachers and also
parents to investigate biodiversity issues through experiential learning and learning by
doing. Environmental Education programs are organised through the network of
Environmental Education Centres, which specifically examine biodiversity issues to
various environmental fields (rural and urban areas). The programs’ aims are closely
related to the thematic unit biodiversity which is included in the Curriculum for
Environmental Education/Education for Sustainable Development. Through these
programs students have the opportunity not only to learn, feel and sensitize about the
biodiversity of a place, but they also have the opportunity to interact with the local
populations and collect information which is connected to the social and cultural
aspect of the biodiversity of a place, instead of the ecological dimensions.
This initiative is funded by the Ministry of Education and Culture of Cyprus and is
included in the educational reform of which fundamental objective is the protection of
biodiversity of our place and the development of students’ and teachers’ conscience
concerning their role and responsibility towards its protection and conservation,
through experiential and direct involvement in fields, communities and important
places related to the particular issue. This action is developed through the network of
Environmental Education Centres of the Pedagogical Institute of Cyprus. Experiential
learning activities are developed in various fields in rural and urban areas such as the
forest ecosystem, the botanical garden, the river and lake ecosystem, Nature Trails,
the suburban forest. Students, at the same interact with the local people, their way of
life, their customs and traditions in order to examine the social, cultural and ecological
dimensions of biodiversity issues.
The innovative aspects of this initiative are synthesized to the conjunction of the
formal and non formal education and to the application of the main principles of the
ESD. Particularly, the intergenerational communication amongst the various groups
(students, teachers, parents etc) with the local populations, the experiential and
interactive learning with the place, the experimentation and the interdisciplinary
investigation are some of the innovative aspects of the initiative.
OBJECTIVES
Relate to national This initiative was based on the educational reform of the country based on the
priorities actions for the Environment and Sustainable Development. Through this initiative, the
various actions of ESD related to biodiversity issues are included as central actions
41
regarding the social, cultural and ecological dimensions of biodiversity. The expansion
of the program from the Environmental Education Centres to the school aim at the
internalization of issues concerning the biodiversity of the country, sensitization and
actions towards its protection and conservation, which reflect the national priorities.
The involvement of the local community seeks to promote cooperation and interaction
amongst students, teachers and the local populations during the implementation of
the program. In addition, it is important the schools through the program to have the
opportunity of networking with various target groups dealing with biodiversity issues
and its social, cultural and ecological dimensions.
WHO?

managing the
initiative

Schools
The Cyprus Pedagogical Institute is the coordinating body of the Ministry of
Education and Culture of Cyprus, which is responsible for the organization of the
network of the Environmental Education Centres and the implementation of its
aims and objectives. Therefore, the programs that examine biodiversity issues are
prepared, designed and organized by the staff of the Pedagogical Institute and
forwarded to the network of E.E.Cs. It also has the responsibility for designing,
applying and organizing educational or in-training courses for teachers and
students related to biodiversity.
Schools from Primary, Secondary and Vocational Education are involved in
applying and implementing programs related to biodiversity issues. Students and
teachers work interactively in the programs of the network of E.E.Cs, to examine
biodiversity issues through experiential learning activities in fields of investigation
and local communities.
The local authorities and community organisations are involved through their
support and cooperation with the schools, the students and teachers who needed
to use the local communities as fields of investigation and the local populations as
primary sources related to biodiversity issues and their social, cultural and
ecological dimensions.
Non-Governmental Organizations and other Services from public sector are in
close cooperation with the pedagogical team of CPI in order to design and
implement effectively the projects of biodiversity.
Research Institutions and Higher Education Institutions involved in various
research issues of biodiversity.
Persons involved The students and teachers can learn through their active and experiential
involvement could be considered to be the learners in this initiative. The students
and teachers come from Primary, Secondary and Vocational Education. Also, the
trainers/instructors of the training programs who have the opportunity to enrich
their knowledge related to biodiversity issues and the local population who can
become primary sources of information concerning biodiversity and its social and
cultural dimension could learn from this initiative. It is estimated that more than
6.000 students, teachers, parents and other professional groups are participating
every year in this initiative.
WHAT?

setting and level
42
WHY?
Tools and materials
Themes Health promotion

Cultural diversity
Environment
Biodiversity
Rural development
WHEN?
Starting year and 2004 was the launching year of the initiative. It is continued.
duration
WHERE?
Geographical setting Local: The program examines issues of biodiversity in rural and urban
communities.
National: The program is nationwide and applied to all the regions of the island.
METHODOLOGY
Methods & The initiative is developed every year through the network of Environmental Education
approaches Centres of the country in three phases. Phase one includes the introduction of
students in biodiversity issues and their various dimensions in school through proper
pedagogical procedures and methods in the classroom. Phase two includes the
participation of schools in programs offered by the network of Environmental
Education Centres in relation to biodiversity and the direct involvement of students in
fieldwork activities regarding issues of biodiversity, as well as their direct involvement
with local people and communities to investigate the social and cultural dimensions of
biodiversity. During this phase, field studies are carried out, outdoor activities take
place, along with observations and interviews. Participants visit particular places,
where they could make observations and collect information about the issue that they
are working on (e.g. visits to botanical gardens, forests, areas that suffer from
desertification etc). Phase three focuses on the production of the end products and
the evaluation of program. Each school prepares materials and actions towards the
protection and conservation of the biodiversity of the country. To be more specific,
schools present biodiversity issues through photos, prepare reports or articles for the
local newspapers discussing the issue and it impact to the local communities and the
country, as well as suggestions for alleviating the issues.
Working Greek
language(s)
Budget and The program, the means and materials are funded by the Ministry of Education and
funding sources Culture with 140.000 euro per year.
Evaluation of A nationwide examination of the project hasn’t been applied yet. It is in process a
initiative research design for initiative evaluation with the use of qualitative and quantitative
research tools.
43
Results The results of the program are included to the end product, which every school and
participating team is submitting at the end of the year to the data bank that has been
created for enhancing activities and good practices for biodiversity amongst schools.
Also, the continuation of the initiative with the participation of more than 6.000
students, teachers and other groups is an important key-evidence for program
effectiveness.
Strengths The strength of the initiative is the deliberate character in which biodiversity issues are
confronted outside of the school. Also, the holistic examination of the biodiversity
issues and the involvement of local populations in the framework of intergenerational
communication are crucial factors for strengthening the initiative.
Weaknesses & Working in the field and communities to connect in a more concrete way with the
risks school activities, as an expansion of the initiative to the school life.
Constraints
Problems The need for introducing officially the outdoor learning and non-formal education in
encountered the curriculum.
Perspectives
Why do you This program is considered as a good practice for ESD and biodiversity issues, in
consider this a particular, which are directly connected to Sustainable Development issues evidenced
good practice? in Cyprus reality. Outdoor activities and direct involvement of the students and
teachers with the local communities and population are attempts to educate, inform
and enlighten students, teachers and the local societies about the ecological, social
and cultural dimension of biodiversity. Students’ active participation and cooperation
with their teachers and the local populations contributed to their active involvement in
specific issues concerning biodiversity in their country, approaching these issues
through different perspectives, sensitizing them and enabling them to take action
concerning the environment of our country, through communication and interaction.
44
9. “Chrysoprasino fyllo”: trans-national cooperation for networking

schools, local communities and environment
Ministry of Education and Culture, Cyprus
CONTACT Ministry of Education and Culture

Kimonos and Thoukididi Corner, CY - 1434 Nicosia
Cyprus
Telephone: 0035722800737 Fax: 0035722800639
E-mail: a.chadjihambi@cytanet.com.cy
Dr Andreas Hadjichambis, National Coordinator of Chr. Fyllo
DESCRIPTION The innovative program Chyroprasino Fyllo (Gold-green Leaf) is a transnational

project between Cyprus and Greece. In Chrysoprasino Fyllo, 24 secondary and other
elementary schools, associated with each other in dyads (one from each country) and
studying an environmental issue related to their local environment, which in most
cases is similar and is associated with biodiversity. The program has been successful
in creating knowledge and value requirements for students to have positive attitudes
and participatory behaviors for the protection of biodiversity and ecological balance,
quality of life and sustainable development and has helped to develop pedagogical
reflection among teachers involved. Through the examination of local, but similar in
most cases, environmental issues, the cultural links between the two countries have
been enhanced and friendly relations and cooperation between pupils, teachers,
schools and local communities have been achieved.
Each program lasts two years. Schools, teachers and students in each country come
in contact with the local community and begin their investigation. Moreover, they come
in contact with their peers of the other country, informing them about environmental
issues and discussing ways of action. This ensures communication and collaboration
between students, teachers, schools and local communities. Exchange visits of
students and teachers and presentations of their work are taking place as open
events in the community. The program in each country is funded by the Ministry of
Education.
Investigation of similar aspects of local environment, in both countries, related mainly
to biodiversity such as nearby natural areas, forest fires, national forest parks etc. /
Networking students, teachers, schools and local communities. / Fostering links with
the community using the local knowledge and culture. / Aims to find new and creative
sustainable solutions to common problems between the two countries. / Motivation for
active citizenship in both countries. / Innovates and acts for the formation of
environmental aware citizens, who have the ecological knowlledge and realize the
seriousness of environmental issues but mainly they have the ability and willingness to act as
change agents in helping to solve environmental problems of our time. / Promotion of
education for sustainable development principles on the territories of the two
participated countries.
45
OBJECTIVES The main objectives of the Chrysoprasino fyllo project are: to foster environmental
aspects and sustainable development in education. / to study environment not only in
ecological aspect but also within the social economical and cultural dimension. / to
enhance environmental awareness of citizens, not only by enhancing ecological
knowledge but mainly by developing competence and willingness to act as change
agents in helping to solve environmental issues of our era. / to train a number of
teachers in both countries. / to network students, teachers, schools and local
communities for local environment investigation and transnational action. / to unite
people from two different countries to work for the common goal of more sustainable
future.
WHO?

managing the
initiative

Schools
Ministry of Education And Culture, Cyprus / Ministry of Education, Greece / many
local communities in both countries / NGOs / Environmental Centres
Persons involved 500 students and 80 teachers every year in the two countries
WHAT?

setting and level
Non-formal: Outdoor education, investigations of local environment
Informal: investigations in cooperation with local communities, environmental
centers, presentations to the general public
WHY?
Themes Environment
Biodiversity
WHEN?
Starting year and

duration Started 18 years ago and updated the last years in order to meet the objectives
and goals of Education for Sustainable Development.
WHERE?
Geographical setting National: Cyprus

Regional: Greece
METHODOLOGY
Methods & The pedagogy is in accordance with the principles and the philosophy of the
approaches Environmental Education and the Education for Sustainable Development as well as
the principles of the inquiry learning used in the framework of the Natural Sciences.
The main idea is to give emphasis on the local environment and to see it in a
transnational level: act locally - think globally. In the first year, the dyads of
partnerships select the environmental subject and the student groups in every school
46
in each country. They come in contact with the local community and they begin to
explore the subject together in both countries. Communicate with peers in the other
country and they inform them about environmental issues that face and discuss
possible ways of action. Exchange visits of students and teachers and presentation of
their work in open events in the community are made.
Working Greek
language(s)
Budget and Government, Ministry of Education, Cyprus and Greece

funding sources
Evaluation of Initial evaluation of the program confirmed the positive results expected.
initiative
Results Thousands of students and hundreds of teachers have participated in the

Chrysoprasino Fyllo program. This demonstrates the wide acceptance and success of
the program in both countries. Moreover, the great interest shown by students,
teachers and schools to participate in the program enhances the program's success.
Strong links between schools, teachers and citizens in both countries were created.
Participants were familiarized for the local environment of the other country.
Strengths The main strength of the programme is the excellent relation between partners
allowing a long-term partnership. / The project takes into consideration the
particularities and needs of each school and each community. / Cooperation with local
communities. / Increasing interest of local communities. / Raising awareness about
the aims and tasks of ESD. / Preparedness of teachers to accept the concept. / Stable
funding from the Ministry of Education and Culture, Cyprus. / Good cooperation and
exchange of experience and ideas between schools. / New diversified possibilities for
teachers’ training. / Transnational experience-exchange.
Weaknesses & Possibility of teacher change at school. / Dependence in teacher effectiveness in the
risks related concepts
Constraints
Problems Time limitations for outdoor education

encountered
Perspectives
Conditions for Stability of well trained teachers. At least one in each school.
successful
replication
Why do you The fact that the Chrysoprasino Fyllo Programme has been implemented for 18 years
consider this a already and has been the last years adapted for the Education for Sustainable
good practice? Development, confirms mutual advantageousness of this initiative. Chrysoprasino
Fyllo does not work only at schools but together with local community and parents;
include them as a part of the learning process. This approach is innovative in Cyprus
Educational System. Students and the whole school community get practical
experience in environmental protection and sustainable development activities and
are involved in decision making process and active citizenship. The program helps to
act both in local and transnational level: act locally - think globally (Cyprus and
Greece). Networking of students, teachers, schools and local communities could be a
powerful approach for promoting Education for Sustainable Development in every
country.
47
10. Free Guided Tours for the Public to the Nature Reserves
Estonian Environmental Protection Agency, Estonia
CONTACT Environmental Board

Narva mnt 7a, 15172 Tallinn
Estonia
Telephone: + 372 6272 193 Fax: +372 6272 182
E-mail: info@keskkonnaamet.ee Internet: www.keskkonnaamet.ee
Maris Kivistik, Head of Deparment of Environmetal Education
DESCRIPTION Nature and nature conservation issues became more important and well educated
and aware citizens can be active members of the society. Most effective way to learn
nature is in the nature. The main aim of this initiative is to educate ordinary people in
the field of nature conservation - principles, restrictions, legislation, protected species
during guided tours in different protected areas and to involve them more in
community participation in the future.
Number of ordinary people are interested to increase their knowledge in nature
conservation issues but do not have possibilities to visit protected areas in different
reasons – lack of money, knowledge, car, no suitable public transportation etc.
Specialists of Environmental Board are offering once a year – end of May – free
guided tours to different protected areas from all centres of 15 Estonian counties. The
interest in two years has been remarkable. The other aim of the initiative is to rise
people awareness - how to participate in decision process, make proposals etc. Tour-
buses are paid by Environmental Board and the initiative is supported by
Environmental Investment Centre.
One task of nature reserves and protected landscapes is to preserve and introduce
the local culture and its peculiarities. This topic was handled during all trips. Usually
people have forgotten how deeply nature and man are related for example how far
from waterline is wise to build a house etc.
OBJECTIVES
Relate to national Estonian nature is known as relatively wild and diverse. May is celebrated as the
priorities Over-Estonian month of Nature Conservation since 1980. Different activities (lectures,
excursions, competitions, campaigns etc.) for all age groups are organized all over the
country. This event is dedicated to the International Day of Protected Areas. One of
the main tasks of Environmental Board is to educate people in all fields of
environmental issues.
WHO?

managing the
initiative
Partners/stakeholders One of the main tasks of Environmental Board is to educate people, so ordinary
involved people are the key stakeholders. The main aim is to offer free professionally
guided tour to nature reserve or protected landscape for ordinary people all over
Estonia.
Persons involved About 460 persons participated.
WHAT?
Educational / learning Non-formal

setting and level
WHY?
48
initiative
Themes Biodiversity
Democracy
Sustainable tourism
WHEN?
Starting year and Campaign started in 2009 and there is no duration limit at the moment. It will be
duration organized once a year in May every year.
WHERE?
Geographical setting National: in all Estonian Counties
METHODOLOGY
Methods & Outdoor lecture + practical works (plant, animal studies, bird-watching), using different
approaches senses.
Working Estonian
language(s)
Budget and State Budget

funding sources
Evaluation of Number of participants mentioned importance of new knowledge and asked when will
initiative be the next tour. Some have promised to come back with friends or to recommend
them.
Results More than 460 persons participated in 17 tours in spring 2010. The number might see
small but our aim is teach people look, see, hear and this can be done well in small
groups.
Strengths The initiative – guided tour- will take place almost in the same time and people can
plan their participation in advance. Destinations will be new every year so there will be
always something exciting. Probably the weather is the only risk.
Perspectives
Why do you It is said that you cannot jump in the same river twice, nature is always full of
consider this a wonders. You have to catch them.
good practice?
49
11. Falkenstein Wilderness Camp

Bavarian Forest National Park, Germany
CONTACT Bavarian Forest National Park Germany

Freyunger Str. 2 ; 94481 Grafenau
Germany
Telephone: 08552 9600 - 132 Fax: 08552 9600 - 100
E-mail: lukas.laux@npv-bw.bayern.de, wcf@npv-bw.bayern.de
Internet: http://www.nationalpark-bayerischer-wald.de/english/index.htm;
www.wildniscamp.de
Lukas Laux
The Falkenstein Wilderness Camp is an international meeting place for people who
DESCRIPTION
want to tackle thoroughly with nature and wilderness, and in doing so they want to find
out about themselves. The Camp provides huts and cabins, which serve as a place to
stay and to sleep, allow to gain knowledge by experience and own action.
Topic Huts and Country Cabins
The area of the Bavarian Forest inspired the Topic Huts. Listening to the huts' names,
like Forest Tent, Water Hut, and Meadow Bed, the visitor already develops a feeling
for the habitats in the area. The Country Cabins come from the indigenous inhabitants
of 8 national parks throughout the world. These accommodations and the regions
where they come from provide starting points for the Education for Sustainable
Development on topics like climate change and biodiversity. Everyday life in the Camp
means living together, experiencing and recognising life cycles, taking on
responsibility for recycling, reflecting actions, adventures and experience and
transferring it into everyday life.
The Wilderness Camp is an educational institution of the Bavarian Forest National

Park Administration, which is an authority of the Bavarian Environmental Ministry. The
buildings as well as the development of the pedagogical concepts were funded by the
“Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt”, DBU, by the European Union and by the
Bavarian State, as the owner. The daily business is driven by the National Park
Administration.
Besides working with schools is the topic of local integration an important aspect in
the country huts. Youth groups from the region took over sponsorship of the huts and
also use contacts to other protected areas for their own projects. Thus, for example, a
youth group from the Bavarian Forest organized an exchange with a Venezuelan
group.
In addition, importance is attached to the lives of the students: a global issue, with an
example from another reserve region is discussed and reflected against the
background of their lives.
50
OBJECTIVES
Relate to national The project is based on the objectives of the National Action Plan for the Global
priorities Decade of Education for Sustainability, in particular ..
- Forge stronger links between individual players and stakeholders in education for
sustainable development
- Global networking with international partner reserves, and the local anchoring
through the sponsoring groups are the umbrella of this intensively cross-linked project.
WHO?

managing the
initiative

involved Higher education institutions
There are several organisations, which support the work within the Wilderness
camp:
- the NGO “WaldZeit” which attends people during weekends and in school
holiday times,
- the GTZ (Gesellschaft für technische Zusammenarbeit), the German
organisation for foreign aid,
- several other National Park authorities which are partners of the country cabins,
- local youth organisations which take care for the country cabins and the
international partnerships,
- Universities, who evaluate the programs. .
Persons involved During the week, there are mainly pupils who visit the camp and participate in the
th
programs (4 grade upwards). On weekends and in school holidays the Camp is
open for all kind of groups (families, companies, youth organizations …). The stay
always is combined with an educational program. Every year, over 1.500 persons
visit the Camp and take courses of several days’ duration.
WHAT?
Educational / learning Non-formal: program for all age; groups; special programs for students from the
th
setting and level 4 grade onward
A “Wilderness Week“ (Wildniswoche) is marked by a highly self-determined and
self-motivated project work. Small groups, inspired by the natural environment and
the stay in the theme huts, work on self-selected projects. A stay opens even
many natural science fields of learning, but social skills are also encouraged. This
program is aimed at students from grade 4 upwards.
The programs are designed for students from grade 7. Working in small groups is
important, however, the weekly program is more structured and there is a fixed
weekly theme, which is developed from the perspective of the country the
participants live in during their stay, and is then compiled with the other small
groups. There are programs on cultural and biological diversity, global climate
change, the ecological footprint, as well as lifestyle issues.
In addition, the focus is on international cooperation. Thus, in 2008 met 50
teenagers and young adults inside a wilderness camp in preparation for the UN
biodiversity conference in Bonn. Protected areas represented all partners which
participated, supplemented by other countries such as China. The teenagers and
young adults have prepared common activities and developed an own resolution,
which was presented to policy makers at the conference in Bonn. This Youth
Summit Go4BioDiv will be continued at the biodiversity conference in Nagoya,
Japan 2010.
51
WHY?
initiative Regional/international cooperation
Themes Intercultural understanding

Cultural diversity
Environment
Biodiversity
WHEN?
Starting year and The wilderness camp was opened in 2002, first with the theme huts only, the
duration country huts were added in 2007. The Wilderness Camp is an educational
institution of the National Park Service and planned for the long run.
WHERE?
Geographical setting Local: Bavarian Forest National Park
METHODOLOGY
Adventures and experience made in nature while working on projects - inspired by the
Methods & accommodation in their topic hut pupils concentrate on working for 2 days on a topic
approaches related with nature and they do so almost self-employed.
This means that small groups are expected to work out themselves objectives,
methods and ways of presentation of the respective project. Encouraging processes
where decisions are taken within small groups is an important element of our
pedagogic conception as a whole. The groups are accompanied and supported by
trained forest guides and educationalists of the National Park. Permanent reflections
within the small groups as well as within the whole class make a deep involvement
into the own topic possible. On a hike through the National Park's wilderness, nature is
discovered and experienced. The experience, gained this way, renders possible to
perceive nature as well as the Wilderness Camp in its overall context.
Working German, English
language(s)
Budget and While the construction has been funded by means of Deutsche Bundesstiftung
funding sources Umwelt, European Union and the Free State of Bavaria, is the operation entirely in the
hands of the responsible body, the Free State of Bavaria. Special projects like youth
exchange programs or special events are covered to a large extent by external
funding.
Evaluation of There were evaluations of the theme hut programs that emphasized the importance of
initiative primary experience of nature. An evaluation of programs in the country huts will be
carried out immediately with available results at the end of the year. Feedback from
the groups and their supervising tutors show that it is a very stimulating learning
environment in which many ideas arise, but which can also vary from group to group
and individual to individual.
Strengths The success of the wilderness camp is: an architecture based on the concept – that
means that the free project work is encouraged by the different theme huts. The
grounds are extensive and the groups have a lot of rest and leisure - even for to find
themselves. It is a concept that incorporates the everyday with living, sleeping, eating
52
– and offers ideas in many ways. The country cottage offers programs especially for
young people with subjects that are part of their own living environment. Global issues
such as the threat to biodiversity become tangible and concrete in this learning
environment.
Weaknesses & The programs with the country huts are quite complex and therefore only suitable for
risks older students. The intensive program needs sufficient staff. The care of the buildings
must be planned.
Perspectives
Conditions for The most important addition to a positive teaching approach were especially the
successful partnerships and the integration into a comprehensive network. A project such as that
replication of the country huts can only be implemented successfully if it is embedded in a large
network. The initial financial costs were manageable but many partners were needed
to implement this project and to keep it vivid.
Why do you In the wilderness camp environmental education and global learning find each other. It
consider this a is a very comprehensive approach and the strength lies in its networking at different
good practice? levels: locally, regionally and internationally. Especially for a national park as part of a
worldwide system of protected areas, the simple country huts are a starting point for
very different educational programs which break down global issues to the own world
and make them a tangible experience.
53
12. Student and Youth Competition “Entdecke die Vielfalt!” (“Discover

Diversity!”)
German Environmental Foundation, Germany
CONTACT German Environmental Foundation (Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt; DBU)

An der Bornau 2, 49090 Osnabrück
Germany
Telephone: 0541-9633-0 Fax: 0541-9633-990
E-mail: info@dbu.de Internet: www.dbu.de; www.entdecke-die-vielfalt.de
Dr. Alexander Bittner
DESCRIPTION With the student and youth competition “Entdecke die Vielfalt!” (“Discover Diversity!”)
the DBU addresses young people between 9 and 16 who commit themselves for the
protection of biodiversity, who think globally and act fairly and sustainably.
The online competition is based on ESD and wants to be source of inspiration both in
school and educational institutions. The combination of different perspectives on the
subject promotes the interdisciplinary work. Participants can compete in three
categories: „Discover nature”, ”act globally” and “interact creatively”. From a natural
recreational sports event over a play to a campaign on Fair Trade: Creativity is
unlimited!
Participants are invited to start their own actions to protect biodiversity and to present
their own ideas – even by means of their own website – to the public and to motivate
others to action. The “prize of the participants” gives young people their own vote in
the evaluation of projects and invites to look into the projects of others, regardless of
the jury voting.
On the occasion of the 9th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological
Diversity in 2008, the DBU called for the first time young people to act for the
protection of biological diversity. The competition is funded by the DBU and
conducted by the Center for Environmental Communication (ZUK) – in 2010 for the
third time, and currently under the auspices of Federal Environment Minister Dr.
Norbert Roettgen.
”Discover Diversity!“ is an online competition that uses the opportunities of new
media. Young people can present their commitment to the protection of biological
diversity by means of text, pictures, films, radio plays, or PowerPoint presentations.
The ”prize of the participants“, which is awarded after the application deadline, invites
to a serious look into the projects of other participants. With the categories ”discover
nature”, “act globally, and “interact creatively”, the competition wants to advance
interdisciplinary work and to introduce biodiversity issues into new areas of education
(e.g., church, culture and sports). The aspects of cultural diversity and global
responsibility are considered particularly. This is achieved primarily through the
materials (website, brochures, flyers) that give various examples and background
information, but also through a nationwide network of educational organizations from
different areas that support the children and young people in their work. The young
participants are motivated to become active and to start shaping their future.
OBJECTIVES
Relate to national The project is based on the objectives of the National Action Plan for the Decade of
priorities Education for Sustainable Development, in particular
- To forge stronger links between individual players and stakeholders in education for
sustainable development,
- To increase public visibility of education for sustainable development.
WHO?

managing the
initiative
54

involved Non-governmental organizations
In 2010, the German association for technical cooperation (Gesellschaft für
technische Zusammenarbeit, GTZ) and the German Youth Hostel Association
(Deutsches Jugendherbergswerk, DJH) supported the competition as partners.
The DJH awards a special prize for all groups that apply in cooperation with a
youth hostel. The GTZ supported the category of “act globally” in public relations
and awarding. The competition has established a network of over 90 supporters –
educational institutions in the field of environment and nature protection, from
development education and the fields of culture and sports.
Persons involved Children and young people aged 9 to 16 from the German-speaking countries can
participate in the competition. They can apply as individuals or as groups. The
competition appeals to both young people from school (all schools) and from the
institutional education work (environment, development, sports and culture).
WHAT?
Educational / learning Formal: Primary education; Secondary education

setting and level Non-formal: In addition to projects from school, children and young people can
submit their self-organized activities or projects from association and
organizational work. Here, projects on biological diversity from all disciplines are
required: environment and conservation, development education, church youth
work, sports, culture, youth fire brigade.
WHY?
initiative
Themes Environment
Biodiversity
WHEN?
Starting year and Starting year: 2008; The competition is announced annually.
duration
WHERE?
Geographical setting National: Projects and actions from the German speaking countries can be
submitted.
METHODOLOGY
Methods & The evaluation of the competition entries focuses on the personal initiative and
approaches involvement of children and young people. The contributions range from different
educational sectors and cover diverse methodological approaches. Notable examples
are sustainable student companies, interdisciplinary school garden projects or media
and art projects.
The competition team supports the candidates with a booklet with tips and tricks for a
self-responsible implementation of their projects and of public relations, with links and
background information on the website www.entdecke-die-vielfalt.de.
Working German
language(s)
Budget and The project is funded by the DBU.

funding sources
55
Evaluation of The project has been evaluated internally every year. Currently, an evaluation as part
initiative of a student research project and a bachelor’s thesis in communication sciences is
planned. Since this is an online competition, especially the aspect of the use of new
media is an important factor.
Results Since the competition started in 2008, more than 200 applications, with over 2,500
participating children and young people from the whole of Germany have been
submitted.
2008: 89 applications from about 1,000 children and young people (including 38
schools)
2009: 86 applications from over 1380 children and young people (including 42
schools)
2010: 36 applications so far from 614 children and young people (including 14
schools)
The applications come from both the traditional natural and environmental protection
work, and from the development education and cultural youth work. In 2009, the three
categories “discover nature”, “act globally” and “interact creatively“ have been
introduced. The strongest participation with 43 candidates were in the category
“discover nature” (“interact creatively”: 25 groups, “act globally”: 18 groups).
Strengths - Increasing numbers of participants and increased press response.

- The categories and the relatively free choice of topics provide a high variety of topics
with a high multiplication and widespread impact effect: In the meantime the
competition team has built up with the previously submitted projects a collection of
over 200 different ideas for sustainable action. All ideas are available online.
- Growing interest in the schools.
- The shape of the online contest provides its media-savvy target group new ways of
commitment and application.
Weaknesses & - Final target groups are children and young people who often can be addressed only
risks by the target group of teachers and youth group leader. There is a risk that the adults
get involved more than the children and youth in the competition.
- Freedom in the choice of topics leads to confusion or the risk of missing the point.
- The use of new media discouraged partly and may exclude some applications of
groups.
- The variety / size of the target group (all types of schools and youth groups in the
fields of environment / sports / arts / culture) makes it difficult to promote the
competition accordingly.
Constraints
Problems Experience has shown that children and young people from the classical field of
encountered environmental education can be easily addressed through a DBU project. The
competition, however, would like to appeal to other target groups, which deal with the
interdisciplinary subject of biological diversity. Projects from the fields of development
education and the arts and cultural education are much more difficult to address. In
accordance with diverse information material (brochure, website) and a diverse
network of support groups, however, it is increasingly possible to win more and more
projects that are competitive on an interdisciplinary approach and focus, i. e. on
cultural diversity and ethical aspects.
Unresolved The competition reaches children and young people via the indirect target group of
issues adults. Again and again, the problem is that the adults are mainly responsible for both
the activities and the application. Only few applications are carried out completely
independently through the children and young people. The competition team tries to
increase the actual participation of children and young people by using materials, a
simply designed online access and repeated notes, so that young people themselves
take responsibility for their participation and presentation of their ideas. Nevertheless,
so far at least 50 percent of the applications are made by the adults.
56
Perspectives
Conditions for Basically, the competition is transferable to other countries and regions, provided the
successful financial framework and infrastructure (system for online application) are given for the
replication implementing organization.
Why do you The competition has a high multiplier effect: it creates a pool of varied ideas for the
consider this a protection of biological diversity. With the awarding of the ”prize of the participants”,
good practice? children and young people are invited to look into the projects of others and this way
discover new opportunities for a sustainable commitment. Participation in the
competition increases the motivation to commit to sustainable development. Through
the use of new media the competition offers more space and a multitude of
opportunities to get involved and to present own ideas in public.
57
13. OroVerde-poster contest “Ich bin doch nicht blöd” (I´m not stupid)
OroVerde - The Tropical Forest Foundation, Germany
CONTACT OroVerde - The Tropical Forest Foundation

Kaiserstraße 185-197, 53113 Bonn
Germany
Telephone: ++49 (0)228 24 290 0 Fax: ++ 49 (0)228 24 290 55
E-mail: info@oroverde.de Internet: www.oroverde.de
Birthe Hesebeck, Enviromental Communication
DESCRIPTION Advertising for a good cause: It’s not about designer jeans or the latest mobile phone
model, but the rain forest. The Oro Verde-poster contest “Ich bin doch nicht blöd” (I’m
not that stupid) calls on pupils from ten years to deal with the issues advertising and
nature and to design their own ad campaign to protect the rain forests. Knowledge,
imagination and creativity are needed to implement their ideas together into clear
messages and powerful images. The best designs are printed in large numbers as a
postcard or poster, and make them public.
Advertising is ubiquitous. It accompanies us wherever we go. It surprises us no longer
when reading newspapers, is a ”usual“ break when listening to radio and television
broadcasts. And it shapes us: our inner images, desires and values, our (consumer)
behavior.
OBJECTIVES The aim of the project is:

1. To prepare the theme ”Advertising and Mass Media“ at the example of ”biodiversity
and rain forest“ well-adjusted to the target groups in order to provide children and
young people how to deal with the advertising tricks and become used to the
respective backgrounds.
2. To encourage children and young people in the poster competition to deal
intensively with the theme of ”rain forest / biodiversity“ and its link to the topic of
”advertising“ and to develop their own design skills.
3. To motivate teachers through ancillary products for the classroom and support to
address the issue of advertising in the context of sustainable development in the
classroom.
4. To show that sustainable development can be communicated (“Sustainability
makes you happy!“) in order to generate new momentum for the communication of
sustainable development.
Relate to national The project is based on the objectives of the National Action Plan for the Decade of
priorities Education for Global Sustainability, in particular to increase public visibility of
education for sustainable development.
WHO?
58
managing the
initiative
involved Higher education institutions
Media
Children, adolescents and young adults (10-25 years): Target group of the
competition are children and young people aged 10+. Specifically addressed here
are both secondary schools 1 and 2 as well as adolescents and young adults who
already attend advertising schools or relevant vocational training.
Schools & Teachers: Teachers of subjects social studies, religion/ethics, biology
and geography and art/design are an important group of mediators to bring the
issue of advertising and nature to the children and young people. The developed
educational material on the subject addresses particularly to them.
Media: Other intermediary groups are various magazines from the youth and
education sector. However, also ad agencies are addressed in order to motivate
their students to participate in the competition.
Persons involved The competition attracted in 2009 nearly 1,000 participants. Different ages, from
pupils of grade 5 to students, developed in groups or individually a total of 475
concepts. The 21 best works were printed as postcards and distributed by City-
cards in 16 cities (circulation 120,000), and were displayed for up to 4 weeks in
postcard stand in cafes, bars and other public places.
The best 55 works were prepared as posters for an exhibition and printed. They
were shown in a special exhibition for 2 months in the chocolate museum in
Cologne, and attracted more than 100,000 visitors.
WHAT?
Educational / learning Formal: Further and higher education; Secondary education; Teacher education
setting and level
WHY?
initiative Tools and materials
Themes Environment
Biodiversity
Climate change
WHEN?
Starting year and Starting in 2008/2009. The competition is announced annually.

duration
WHERE?
Geographical setting National: Germany, Switzerland, Austria
METHODOLOGY
Methods & Introduction of a competition on ”advertising and nature.“ In the competition, the
approaches participating children and adolescents deal with questions of consumer behavior, with
their guiding principles and the effectiveness of advertising.
At the same time it is shown how advertising appears in the context of nature and
communication for sustainable development. The target group develops own
advertising ideas and implements them in the form of posters, ads and postcards.
Project components were:
1. Target group-oriented treatment of the topic „Advertising & Nature“ / teaching
59
materials as ancillary products for the contest

2. Implementation of pilot projects with students and pupils
3. Announcement of the student poster competition
4. Care of the participants, website „Die Dschungelforscher” (The Jungle
Researchers)
5. Postcard promotion with the competition-winning ideas, special exhibition, printed
ads.
Working German
language(s)
Budget and Seed money to start the project and the development of ancillary products: €
funding sources 249,669.65.
Project continuation (including reproduction of teacher materials): 3,000 € per year
Evaluation of In addition to a quantitative evaluation the submitted posters were analyzed with the
initiative SINUS Sociovision. Key issues were:
- The extent to which submissions provide information on the understanding of young
people for nature and of environmental destruction in a global context.
- The extent to which young people feel responsible for nature conservation and
environmental protection, or how they delegate responsibility to parents, politics and
business.
The identified trends are presented in a 24-page project documentation. Here there
are also more pictures which have been submitted by the participants.
Results In the first year about 1,000 students participated in the poster competition and
submitted a total of 475 commercial motives. The 21 jury-selected best works were
printed as postcards (120,000 copies), distributed through a professional provider in
16 cities in cafes, bars and other public places. 55 drafts were prepared as a poster
and displayed in a special exhibition for several months in various museums.
Teaching materials (intensively demanded): The extensive educational booklet „Geist
ist geil (“Intellect/spirit is cool”) with 35 worksheets shows how advertising works and
the tricks the communications professionals work with. Humorous and constructively
rather than gloomy and hopeless - that’s the motto of creating advertising motifs.
Strengths Besides the quality of teaching materials the advertising of the project was a critical
success factor.
The teaching materials and the poster competition were advertised by means of
- Supplements and ads in 4 magazines for teachers
- Mailings (by mail or e-mail) to teachers and students
- Infopost Mailing with a leaflet of the competition for students
- Press relations
The supplements in teacher magazines led to an immediate strong demand for the
material package „Geist ist geil” (“Intellect/Spirit is cool“). The inserts were placed in
different media to address a variety of disciplines. The greatest interest came from the
field of geography. Additionally, a printed ad in a superior teacher magazine with a
circulation of 240,000 copies, aimed to spread the project even more effectively. It
showed, however, that supplements experienced in their effectiveness of addressing
a higher resonance, because the amount of request was lower despite the high
circulation than for the supplement.
Constraints
Problems The subject of advertising is for teachers first and foremost a topic to which they have
encountered made so far only limited experience. The more important were detailed teacher
materials that allowed a quick and practical introduction to the topic. The briefings for
60
the poster competition were praised by the teachers as they get started in the project
work with the classes and greatly facilitated the students motivation to implement what
they have learned.
To gear the worksheets and teaching materials to young people, school classes were
also involved in the design of the materials. This led in parts to the revision of texts,
for example to a simplification of the milieu descriptions.
Perspectives
Why do you The poster competition has now been established as annual and international
consider this a competition. It has continued to offer children, adolescents and young adults a chance
good practice? to get in touch with the issues of ”rain forest“ and ”advertising“ - and leads, according
to feedback from the participating schools, to a strong motivation in the corresponding
classes.
Every year’s best of emerging ideas will be implemented continuously as postcards
and printed. Moreover, the motifs are treated as advertisements and printed in various
magazines.
61
14. “Sustainability has many faces”

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), Germany
CONTACT Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH (German

Technical Cooperation)
Postfach 5180, D-65726 Eschborn
Germany
Telephone: +49-(0)6196-79 1317 Fax: +49-(0)6196-79 80 1317
E-mail: thora.amend@gtz.de / rolf.mack@gtz.de
Internet: www.gtz.de, www.gtz.de/biodiversity, www.conservation-development.net
Dr. Thora Amend / Dr. Rolf Mack Senior Advisor "Implementing the Biodiversity
Convention" Section 4702 – Biodiversity, Forests, Natural Resources Governance
Division 47 – Environment and Climate Change
DESCRIPTION Sustainability Has Many Faces is a brochure series with multimedia materials on
biodiversity conservation and sustainability in development cooperation – a
contribution towards the UN Decade on ESD.
Biological and cultural diversity is the basis for our life. The conservation of these
prepares the ground for future development. The brochures published in the series
present a variety of „faces“ of sustainability and address interdisciplinary and cross-
national topics. They provide insights, suggestions and teaching ideas for sustainable
development, for specific topics, or for global studies, both in school contexts and as
extra-curricular activities. Easy-to-read texts, additional information boxes,
educational ideas and a wide array of multimedia materials let us take a look at the
everyday life of people living in countries rather unfamiliar to us, where people find
ways to improve their livelihoods while endeavouring to conserve their environment at
the same time.
„To my knowledge, this is the one and only series, that truly aims at changing the
perspectives: it presents solutions for nature conservation from us in the South to the
first-world readers in the North – we are not always the “developing countries” – we
sometimes can contribute valuable ideas and inspirations to the rest of the world”
(Ricardo Icaza, Peru)
“What I like is the unique mix of journalistic elements, good thematic information and
up-to-date links, as well as educational suggestions. This helps me with the
preparation of my classes and nature youth groups” (Birgit Eschenlohe, Germany)
“It is interesting to see, how you people in Europe see our challenging process of
land restitution and reconciliation in South Africa. There is still a long way to go – but
by presenting our Kruger National Park and the Makuleke case as a win-win scenario
for nature and man you have given us hope for similar situations.” (Hlami Ngwenya,
South Africa)
In the International Wilderness Camp in Germany´s oldest National Park we need
publications like the ones of the series – competent people write about interesting
topics and even offer good ideas for practical activities and discussions with our
young visitors – simply great, thanks!” (Lukas Laux, Germany)
62
OBJECTIVES
Relate to national Germany is signatory state of the Convention on Biological Diversity and thus strives
priorities for the conservation of nature, the sustainable use of natural resources and the fair
and equitable sharing of costs and benefits derived there from. The Convention calls
for technical, financial, scientific and educational support for the developing countries.
The CEPA Programme (Communication, Education and Public Awareness) of the
Convention stimulates the development of innovative educational material and events.
This multimedia series and the diverse actions and active north-south or south-south
partnerships related to some of the brochures are an important contribution of
Germany (and were recently presented as such in COP 10 in Nagoya, Japan).
WHO?

managing the International
initiative
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH (German
Technical Cooperation)

involved Schools
Vocational education institutions
Media
In each brochure of the series different stakeholders are involved in different
ways, for instance:
The Bavarian Forest National Park: an intensive educational / joint learning
partnership between GTZ and the national park lead to the cooperation with
various brochures, i.e. “Nature and Mankind facing Climate Change”
Extensive discussions of concepts with Global Footprint Network lead to the
publication of the brochure “A Big Foot on a Small Planet” about the Ecological
Footprint. Later, the Portuguese organization CESTRAS thoroughly reviewed and
adapted the Spanisch, Portuguese and French versions.
Together with Oro Verde the Brochure on Brazil (Who conserves what for whom?)
was elaborated. All of the publications are planned and published in close
cooperation with partner institutions in the different focal countries.
Persons involved Partners in development cooperation in Germany and abroad, students, the
general public.
An estimate of the numbers of people reached is very difficult since the mere
amount of printed copies (between 2500 and 7000 per volume) does not reflect
the “learners”, since most copies go to “multipliers”, like teachers and group
leaders. In addition, many brochures and material are downloaded from our
webpage www.conservation-development.net
WHAT?
Educational / learning Formal: Further and higher education; Teacher education; Secondary education;
setting and level Professional education
Non-formal: educators in the field of environmental and development studies,
group leaders of extracurricular activities on global learning for sustainable
development, institutions for environmental education (e.g. in protected areas)
Informal: politicians, journalists, employees of development cooperation institutes
63
WHY?
Tools and materials
Themes Overcoming poverty
Ethics
Intercultural understanding
Cultural diversity
Environment
Climate change
Biodiversity
Governance
Corporate responsibility
Rural development
Other (Energy, Ecological Footprint, Agrobiodiversity)
WHEN?
Starting year and first publication in 2007, ongoing

duration
WHERE?
Geographical setting there are brochures about specific countries (with various local and regional
examples) and also about international, overall items
Local: different local examples in each brochure from all over the world, for
instance environmental communication in the national park Cerro Hoya/Panama
Regional: e.g. governance in nature conservation in the Amazon region
International: e.g. brochures on overall topics such as CBD, Climate Change,
Ecological Footprint
National: Panama, Benin, South Africa, Madagascar, Mauritania, Brazilian
Amazon region, Bolivia, China (in preparation)
METHODOLOGY
Methods & The aim: to present complex topics in an illustrative and (in parts) journalistic way, i.e.
approaches by using reportages, portraits, interviews; this also includes the description of
multimedia material that helps to deepen one’s knowledge about the respective topic,
offer suggestions for further work and further documents on the topic,
Working German, translation into other languages (according to the countries involved and / or
language(s) interested, up to now: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Mongolian,
Vietnamese)
Budget and The concept as well as the first four brochures of the series was developed within the
funding sources framework of a self-financed project of GTZ. All further brochures (up to now 10
brochures have been published) were financed mainly by different German
development cooperation projects all over the world (and therefore by the German
Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development). Some brochures were
co-financed by different stakeholders such as UNDP and the Chinese Ministry of
Agriculture (in case of China-brochure, which is still work in progress), WWF (in case
of the brochure about the Ecological Footprint), Bavarian Forest National Park (in
case of the brochure about climate change)
64
Budget for the initial concept and the first four brochures: 100.000,- EUR. Budget for
each further brochure: between 30 and 50 thousand Euros (depending on: need of
research trip, printing quantity, translation etc.)
Evaluation of Evaluation is ongoing at the moment (online questionnaires, qualitative interviews,

initiative carried out by independent evaluators and University of Frankfurt)
Results The series seems to have greatly contributed (evaluation is underway) to a broader
understanding of the term “sustainability”, with a specific focus on biodiversity
conservation. Formerly very abstract terms and concepts have gained “a face” of a
person in a specific context or a distant developing country. By relating the life stories
or situations, sometimes testimonies of people in different countries, global problems
become tangible. Via educational suggestions, teachers and other group leaders get
an idea of how to approach complex topics and connect them in a meaningful way to
our life in Europe.
Strengths Via the direct link to projects of development cooperation, the series draws on up-to-
date, first-hand information, many of which are submitted directly by the national
partners or local authorities / groups. This collaboration also fosters the dialogue (how
do you want to present your initiative? what else is important for you? What do you
want people in Germany to know about you and your project / initiative / activity?)
Weaknesses & Participation, long coordination processes with partners and very marked team work
risks in the elaboration of materials and texts requires resources: time, money, as well as
nerves. This can be very demanding – and some people tend to get frustrated or even
give up. Frequent modifications of already layout versions pull hard on our free lance
designer and authors -- sometimes to such a degree that they can no longer afford to
accompany a project until it is finished.
Constraints
Problems Teaching and learning concepts vary greatly in different cultures. At present we are in
encountered an extended discussion process with the upcoming Chinese brochure on
Agrobiodiversity – how do we learn? What do we value? And why? These are some
main topics that merit intense analysis to reach a consensus with our partners.
Unresolved In top-down societies the stimulus of the series of free questioning, individual or group
issues analysis of concepts and discussions of topics, in order to better grasp the respective
values and form an individual opinion / approach to conservation, are not readily
shared. This still is seen as a very “Western” approach of teaching – but due to our
very extensive discussion process we are close to compromises.
Not yet solved: free internet access in controlled / censored societies. Links and
downloads are extremely difficult, as is the free use of maps, audio files with
interviews and other frequently used materials in the educational context of our series.
Perspectives
Conditions for A good and dedicated team of authors (each volume requires aprox. a year of
successful research, writing, discussion with partners, review and adaption – since funding is
replication generally low, it is not easy to find knowledgeable people that understand the topic,
are able to write in an easy-to-understand but correct way, and like to incorporate
educational incentives.
Why do you Development Cooperation is an investment in the future of our Planet – if we want to
consider this a succeed as humankind, we need to respect each other, value our cultural differences
good practice? and our natural assets. This requires understanding of the most diverse aspects. This
series, which has been conceptualized in close cooperation with our partners, aims at
fostering this broad understanding of sustainability and biodiversity conservation,
including individual statements, collective needs, societal challenges and global
perspectives. Building bridges – trans-cultural, trans-generational, and trans-sectoral
is the ambitious aim of the series.
65
15. Initiative “Place a Stone in a Stream”

North Vidzeme Biosphere reserve, Latvia
CONTACT North Vidzeme Biosphere Reserve

Riga str.10 Salacgriva, Latvia, LV-4033
Latvia
Telephone: +371 26535641 Fax: +371 64071407
E-mail : andris.urtans@daba.gov.lv
Andris Urtans, Deputy Director of North Vidzeme Biosphere Reserve
DESCRIPTION Community involvement in water quality and aquatic biodiversity improvement, as well
Climate Change effect mitigation through innovative low cost method
Each of us at least once have thrown a stone in water. The given human
“psychological custom” is used to reach practical multisided ecological goals. Small
streams have unique capacity through their morphological features (i.e. mechanically
saturate oxygen through its laminar flow and rough surface) and biological settings to
mineralise organic compounds with antropogenic origin.
Increased biological divesity and purification capacity is achieved through the man
installed stable stones, acting as surfaces for naturally developed Biofilms. “Biofilms”
generally consists of the layer of bacteria and algae serving not only as an water
treatment factor, but as well as a food pool. The most active mineralisation processes
are observed within riffle areas or even single standing stone or stone assambleges.
In the same time such mehanically oxygen enriched microhabitats with supporting
food pool (“Biofilms” on stone surfaces) serves as excellent microhabitats or shelters
for oxygen sensitive aquatic species, which are among most endangered aquatic
species allround the Europe.
“Biofilm” phenomenon is used in general Biological wastewater treatment plant
concept with calculation of needed 10 square meter biofilm (!) to utilise organic
emmission per one person
Locally undertaken river and its biodiversity supporting activities acording to specific
interests of each involved group (Environmental NGOs, fishermen club, water sport -
canoeing groups, students, house owners) reaches visible results for each of them, in
the same time adding input as well to all related segments like biodiversity, water
quality , fish as game resource, riverside and general landscape.
OBJECTIVES
Undertaken Initiative are in line with both Latvian National Programm for Biodiversity
Relate to national (point 3.3.4. “Involve society in water quality monitoring as well in aquatic recultivation
priorities
activities”) as well in line with EC Strategy for the Baltic Sea
66
WHO?

managing the
initiative

involved Schools
Valka, Liepupe, Salacgriva Secondary schools (regular cooperation in
environmental issues and stream management),NGO Environmental Club of
Latvia (longterm relations in voluntary involvement) Salacgriva parish authority
fishing club “Salackrasti” (fish resource enhancement), North Vidzeme Biosphere
reserve administration (organizer)
Persons involved about 500 students and adults in 2010 with foreseen increasing numbers in next
years
WHAT?
Educational / learning Informal: Embraces different age and interest groups

setting and level
WHY?
initiative
Themes Environment
Climate change
Water
Biodiversity
WHEN?
Starting year and Started in 2010. Duration at least 2 – 3 coming years

duration
WHERE?
Geographical setting Subnational: voluntary activities under the given title have taken place in different
parts of Latvia, but have not reached national scale yet
METHODOLOGY
Methods &  Preliminary “River stretch survey matrix” elaborated and spread to potential
approaches actors. "Guidelines for stone placement in a stream and creation of riffle areas"
elaborated and published. The given leaflet is intended as a tool in a step by step
mood to clarify involved stakeholders ( single people, farmers,activity groups,
volunteers ) how to use river as a purification phenomenon as well biodiversity
pool, adding, repairing or improving their morphological features and biological
capacity.).
 Initial training and joint activities in rivers with volunteers.
 Monitoring of achieved results through low cost „Biological Water Quality
Measurement Scheme”, elaborated in Latvia and adapted for people with initial
skills.
67
Evaluation of Allready in 2009 in 5 improved river stretches electrical fish monitoring previous to
initiative activity as well after finishing river cleaning activities were undertaken, showing
evident increase of oxyphyluous fish species.
Results In approximately 30 areas improvement of stream habitats undertaken. New stone
microhabitats installed and biodiversity of aquatic invertebrates as well fish stocks
increased. Excess weeds and wooden debris removed. In separate areas terrestrial
river belt managed and local landscape improved. Improved River stretches acts as
natural water purification systems. Theoretically locally improved and oxygen enriched
waters finally can diminish total load to the Baltic sea thus lessening adverse effects
of foreseen Climate Change induced raise of temperature and following increase of
eutrophication processes.
Strengths Proposed activity is low cost activity with practical viable results in short term
Weaknesses & Without initial training or thorough Guideline studies somewhere it is possible to
risks induce coastal erosion
Constraints
Problems Sometimes degraded stream stretches belongs to private landowners . Not always it
encountered is easy to achieve agreement with them. Landowners are afraid of negative publicity
(like, why they haven’t maintained river stretch before themselves).
Ignorance/Misunderstanding of the coastal belt functioning and river-terrestrial zone
interaction ecological aspects sometimes creates problems from the local authorities,
like “leave as it is – Nature itself knows the best solution”.
Perspectives
Conditions for Continuing suport from UNESCO Latvian National Commission is looked as a good
successful promoting umbrella for the next years in Latvia. Interest raised and support for the
replication next season activities received from the Latvian Nature Conservation Agency.
Why do you First of all results are achieved through personal involvement and practical activities
consider this a with viable results. Positive starting point – instead of “fight against” initiative is
good practice? promoted as “help and improve the stream (and even yourself)”. Raise of self
confidence and awareness. Learning by doing. Applicable for all streams/river
stretches where water speed exceeds 0,2 m/sec
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16. Ambassador species for Biodiversity

NovioConsult, the Netherlands
CONTACT NovioConsult
Postbus 256 – 6500 AG Nijmegen
The Netherlands
Telephone: 024-3813333
E-mail: h.tenholt@novioconsult.nl or h.tenholt@telfort.nl Internet:
www.novioconsult.nl
Ir. H. Ten Holt
DESCRIPTION The modern biodiversity concept (including ecosystem services) is an abstract

umbrella concept that is difficult to communicate to the public. The essence of the
concept lies in the focus on the value of biodiversity vs. ecosystem services for
people. This communication project aims at getting municipalities and their
inhabitants involved in biodiversity by choosing and using one or more local species
as an ambassador for biodiversity in communication and actions. Ideally the
ambassador species represents the unique identity of the municipality and its
characteristic natural qualities. By making use of the inhabitants’ identification with
‘their’ ambassador species, municipalities can also communicate on broader
biodiversity and sustainable development related issues and bring these closer to
home. The process of choosing an ambassador species can be internal, but it can
also be designed as a community participation process. An ambassador species can
be used for several goals: creating public awareness and education for biodiversity
and sustainability, city marketing and ecological action.
The central instrument of the project is the website www.ambassadeursoorten.nl. The
website offers advice on how to choose and use ambassador species and where
expertise is available. Municipalities that join the initiative can make their own page
on the website where they can present themselves and their ambassador species.
The progress of the project is monitored and presented in a map of the Netherlands.
The initiative is primarily developed by NovioConsult, a small consulting firm active in
the area of sustainable development. Through the whole process NovioConsult has
sought cooperation with all kinds of partners to build a communication coalition
around the project. This has been quite successful, especially many non-
governmental organizations have joined the coalition. Coalition partners are expected
to take their part in the project publicity aimed at getting the project under the
attention of all Dutch municipalities. They benefit by being able to communicate their
expertise in this area to these municipalities. The project has been (partly) funded by
the Dutch national Government on behalf of the Dutch Coalition Biodiversity 2010.
Biodiversity is important for people. The Dutch Taskforce on Biodiversity and National
Recourses uses the motto: Biodiversity opens the door to the backyard and to the
refrigerator. Our economic, physical, mental and cultural health depends on the health
of ecosystems. For citizens this is not always so natural anymore. By choosing local
ambassadors (plants or animals) biodiversity are brought close to home.
OBJECTIVES
Relate to national Dutch government has signed the Treaty on Biological Diversity and has been
priorities developing biodiversity policies for a long period of time. One of the main goals of this
policy is to stimulate the sub national and local governmental level to engage into
biodiversity policy. Our project contributes to this aim.
69
WHO?
Type of organization Local authority

managing the Private sector
initiative
Partners/stakeholders Government (State)

Private sector
Key stakeholders are Dutch government (on all levels), non-governmental
organizations and (consulting) businesses.
Persons involved There are many kinds of learners involved. The project partners form the first
shell. Then the coalition for Biodiversity partners and then the final target group
(municipalities and their inhabitants). The number of persons involved at this
moment is estimated between 100 and 500. This will grow further once the project
is picked up by more municipalities. In the end it could reach millions.
WHAT?
Educational / learning Non-formal: Children and families who visit local environmental education centers
setting and level and city farms in the area
Informal: Municipalities and their inhabitants, so that is all Dutch Citizens
WHY?
initiative Tools and materials

Citizenship
Environment
Climate change
Biodiversity
Sustainable tourism
WHEN?
Starting year and The project started in June 2010 and was funded until November 2010. By then
duration the municipalities that are involved are going to develop there own communication
activities and materials involving the ambassador species. The website will be
hosted until the end of 2011. The Dutch Coalition for Biodiversity (coordinated by
IUCN the Netherlands) will be monitoring the results in 2011 and further.
WHERE?
Geographical setting Regional: Especially in the province of Noord-Brabant there are many
municipalities involved. They bundle their activities regionally.
National: The Netherlands
METHODOLOGY
Methods & Online communication where stakeholders can contribute. Network building (online
approaches as well as in real life is stimulated. This project is mend to be a initiator, after this
first stage the municipalities are developing their own communication strategies.
Working Dutch
language(s)
70
Budget and funding 25.000 Euros. Funded by The Dutch National Government (Agentschap NL) and
sources through contributions of participants
Evaluation of Not yet

initiative
Results At this moment 15 municipalities are involved in the website. Since there are over 400
municipalities in the Netherlands there is still work to do. The municipalities that are
involved are enthusiastic and see Biodiversity as an integrating topic, to bring together
several policy-topics. Usually the involvement in taking part in the ambassador
species program is the starting point for a bigger action plan on biodiversity for the
municipality or the region.
Strengths Open cooperative approach, coalition building, large investments in project publicity.
The participatory process to elect a species is interesting and can involve the local
civil society. Also a strongpoint is the possibility for different sectors within the
government (f.e. recreational/tourist sector) to benefit.
Weaknesses & Since it is a decision of the whole municipality it can be difficult to find an “owner”.
risks
Constraints
Problems The process and initiator role takes more time than expected (mainly because of
encountered expected cutbacks in the national and local government). Therefore the initiating
project period is too short to really get this project into a flying start.
Unresolved Continuity after the biodiversity-year 2010 is unsure, the process does need a
issues coordinator, to help more municipalities get started.
Perspectives
Conditions for Use a “close to home” and positive approach to biodiversity communication, in order
successful to get people involved. Let participants make there own activities and invest in a
replication network-structure to stimulate exchange of results and best-practices.
Organize inspirational moments and find supporters in local NGO’s. Municipalities
want to be helped and want to cooperate with other governments and local NGO’s or
businesses.
Why do you It is relatively cheap, motivating and effective in informing large numbers of people
consider this a about the value of biodiversity.
good practice? Also the possibility for municipalities to involve there citizens in policymaking is a
strong benefit, while at this moment in time it is necessary to get people involved in
the governance process and into valuing there own place of living.
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17. Portugal and Cape Vert united for the preservation of Biodiversity
Escola Secundaria Dr. Ginestal Machado, Escola Secundaria Latino Coelho,
Escola Secundaria Pedro Gomes, Portugal & Cape Verde
CONTACT Escola Secundaria Dr. Ginestal Machado

Mailing address: aforte@egmachado.pt
Portugal
Telephone: +351243309650 Fax: +351243309651
E-mail: escsec.gmachado@mail.telepac.pt Internet: http://www3.esec-dr-ginestal-
machado.rcts.pt/
Escola Secundaria Latino Coelho

Mailing address: mginha1@hotmail.com
Portugal
Telephone: +351254612024 Fax: +351254655323
E-mail: escola.sec.latinocoelho@gmail.com Internet: http://www.esec-latino-
coelho.rcts.pt/
Escola Secundaria Pedro Gomes

Mailing address: pireszeza@hotmail.com
Cape Vert
Telephone: +238622045 Fax: +238624043
E-mail: es.pg@cvtelecom.cv
Maria Alexandra Neves Forte, Coordinator SEA UNESCO Escola Secundária Dr.
Ginestal Machado; Coordinator of the Projects of Escola Secundária Dr. Ginestal
Machado, Teacher of Chemistry and Physics
DESCRIPTION One of the major issues of this initiative was to promote the awareness of the need to
preserve biodiversity around the world. The main focus was for Portugal and the Cape
th
Vert Islands Biodiversity. These islands were colonized by Portugal in the 16 Century
and in 1976 was established a peace agreement between these two countries. Now,
Cape Vert is an independent nation with a peaceful relationship with Portugal. So it
was very important to do a joint project with both countries to promote the respect for
the different cultures among both countries and lead to stronger bonds between the
people of Portugal and Cape Vert. This Project had an impact on both school
communities and on the people of Cape Vert and Portugal, because the media
(National television of Cape Vert) made a cover story about this initiative and the
regional media of Portugal (newspapers of Santarem) published a report about this
project. This project made students realize the differences between the African and
Mediterranean Biodiversity and also promote the awareness towards the preservation
of Biodiversity. As they learned that Portuguese people brought different species of
animals and plants to the Cape Vert Islands during the colonization process,
modifying forever their biodiversity. Students were aware about this situation and they
realised that they must preserve biodiversity and never take action to modify nature.
As for the culture, students realized that they must accept both cultures and people as
equal.
This project related science with culture, because it was a scientific project involving
knowledge of: Biology – students had to research and learn about the species of
plants and animals of Cape Vert islands and Portugal; Geography – both countries
were located geographically by the students in each continent; Chemistry – the
problem of water pollution, led students to research about its cause, the main
chemical products involved and how this pollution affects the biodiversity of both
countries; History – those scientific aspects were combined with the historical facts,
because the biodiversity was affected by humankind. All these scientific aspects
combined with the culture aspects of both countries, made students aware, that they
will be able to make a better world for live in. This joint project offer the amazing
opportunity for students to do team work between both countries and establish
communication by using ITC tools. Students became familiar with each other cultures.
The key stakeholders got involved by sponsoring the project with money, goods,
boarding, meals, local transportation and contacts. We were received by the
Portuguese Ambassador in Cape Vert and by the Minister of Higher Education.
72
OBJECTIVES
Relate to national It is essential to both countries to maintained a good relationship with each other, after
priorities the indepence of Cape Vert it is crucial to show that we all are equal and have the
same opportunities; it is crucial to preserve the biodiversity and not damage nature or
modify it. The main objectives are:
• To learn and practice the concept of Biodiversity through “Learning by doing”.
• To promote the peace and goodwill among the people from both countries.
• To establish stronger ties between countries.
• To promote awareness about the need of preservation of Biodiversity.
• To stimulate creative thinking and problem-solving among students.
WHO?
There are 10 Teachers directly committed to this project. Three teachers from
Portugal make their contribution and from Cape Vert there are 7 teachers
involved. Students´ age ranges between 17 and 18, and there are 8 Portuguese
students working directly together with 10 colleagues from Cape Vert. All school
community (teachers and students more than 200 people) participated in the first
presentation of this Project in Cape Vert (April 2010). The town halls from
Santarem and Lamego sponsored this project, together with both, Portuguese
embassy in Cape Vert and Cape Vert´s ministerial of higher education. Funds
were donated by several companies of Cape Vert.
For this project we have the support of the Principals of the three schools and the
members of the school Board.
We have the support of the representative local governmental office of education
of Santarem and Lamego. The National Coordinators of Aspnet (Portugal and
Cape Vert) were always informed about the several steps of this project.
Type of organization Academic
managing the
initiative

involved
Local authorities
Media
Schools
The Portuguese Embassy in Cape Vert, the ministerial of higher education of
Cape Vert, the townhalls of Santarem and Lamego, Principals of the three schools
and local office of education in Santarem and Lamego. All of them showed their
support by sponsoring this project.
Persons involved The learners of this initiative are in firsthand the students and teachers of the three
schools involved, more than 200 people, and in secondhand the families of
73
students, because students will bring with themselves the knowledge to their
home.
WHAT?
Educational / learning Formal: Secondary education

setting and level
WHY?
Learning for sustainability in formal, non-formal and informal settings
General focus of the Regional/international cooperation
initiative
Themes Environment
Biodiversity
Cultural diversity
WHEN?
Starting year and 2009 to 2012

duration
WHERE?
Geographical setting Local : Santarém; Lamego; Praia

National: Portugal
International:Cape Vert
METHODOLOGY
Methods & There were two main phases of the Project:1) Students had to establish internet
approaches contact with each other (Portuguese and Cape Vert) to decide what aspects they
would work in the theme Biodiversity. After they established contact they began to do
a research about the biodiversity of each country and continent, and of how they could
help to preserve this biodiversity. In Additional work, they did a research about the
geographic localisation of each country and their common history. They learned facts
about transatlantic slave trade, routes and one of the most important slave markets in
Cape Vert. They learn how to respect human rights. It was implemented the skills for
using ITC resources to do this project. 2) At the end of the project students from
th th
Portugal went to Cape Vert (Santiago island – from 12 April to 17 April 2010) to see
in loco the species of animals and plants they researched back in Portugal. Also,
Portuguese students presented the Cape Vert students the biodiversity from Portugal
and Cape Vert students presented their own research. Software was used such as
power point and production of text in word to present the Project by the three schools.
The new subject called “Project Area” enable the achievement of this project, because
most of the work was done in these classes, and in Cape Vert it was made in
extracurricular time. With this project students have learn how the colonization
affected the animals and plants of the islands of Cape Vert, because the people who
discover the land, brought to the island other species that changed forever the several
ecosystems that existed in the islands. The interchange opens new horizons to all
students, because they establish relationships of friendship with each other. In loco
they learned the Cape Vert culture, food, dances and songs.
Working Portuguese
language(s)
Results Learning outcome - The students have learned:

• To respect the human rights.
74
• To be a junior ambassador of peace and goodwill.

• To respect other cultures as equal.
• To respect the biodiversity of the world and particularly of the countries involved
in the project.
• To learn by doing.
• To enable pupils to make a personal commitment and to take concrete actions to
help protect
the Biodiversity
• To extend this initiative to adults and to other schools and institutions
Intercultural issues are now being taught at several subjects, because these topics
are now became part of our society.
By becoming aware of the history, consequences and “scares” left by transatlantic
slave trade, students recognised the importance of the human rights and how they are
protected from such an evil. They saw in loco (Cape Vert) a different culture and
language (crioulo), and they learn to respect the difference without prejudice. The
most important change of their attitude was to see that basically we are all equal, only
living conditions made culture different.Peace can exist among us.
Strengths Intercultural Dialogue was established; strengthening of the bonds between both
countries; smoothing the pain of the colonization process, and working the same aims
towards the goals on equal basis; Preservation of biodiversity.
Constraints
Problems raising all the money for the project

encountered
Perspectives
Conditions for the project had a great impact in Cape Vert and it encourage the involvement of new
successful schools to join Aspnet schools and awaken other ASPnet schools wich saw the
replication amazing results of this project.
Why do you This Project will have a second part, namely students from Cape Vert school will
consider this a come to Portugal this scholl year to present a new joint project with the theme
good practice? “Heritage” and probably this project will continue.
75
18. MEDIterranean disCOvery exPerience: collaborative networking for

Education from young ages
Centre for Functional Ecology (CEF), Portugal
CONTACT Centre for Functional Ecology (CEF)

Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra (UC), PO Box 3046, 3001-401
Coimbra
Portugal
Telephone: +351239855210 Fax: +351239855211
E-mail: amjrazul@ci.uc.pt Internet: http://ecology.uc.pt/
Anabela Marisa Azul, Researcher
OBJECTIVES The overall goal of MediCOPE is to advance innovative collaborative methodologies

and strategies in teaching and learning to address climate change, biodiversity and
effective environmental awareness in Mediterranean Basin from young ages (pre-
th
school, primary school and 5-6 grade, including special education). The initiative is
focusing in three key domains:   –Information and tools for students. –Networking and
training for teachers. –Sharepoint Research-Education. To progress this, the main
objectives are:   (1) to disseminate the actions in a web-site and in a book for
children; (2) to identify valuable indicators with which to improve the training activities
with professionals; (3) to create a framework to monitor and examine the information
content in terms of the goals of the initiative, the academic point of view, and the ESD
vision; (4) to create a web-based dialogue platform for general public, which will
enable to connect and facilitate the cooperation initiatives already existing.
Relate to national (1) Ministers Resolution n.º 119/2004 31st July, National Programme for Climate
priorities Change (PNAC 2004) MRf1 – Programme for Portuguese Forest Sustainable
Development (IIIQCA); (2) Ministers Resolution n.º 83/2005 : Programme for
Mitigation Drought Effects. (3) 'Mediterranean Programme' (European Territorial
Cooperation under the Cohesion Policy for 2007-2013).
WHO?

managing the
initiative
Partners/stakeholders Pre-school institutions

involved Schools
The stakeholders involved in MediCOPE initiative represent the collective views of
76
professionals of education (Biology and Geology Portuguese Teachers

Association –APPBG–, Division Technical-Pedagogic, DTP–UC) and research
(Centre for Functional Ecology, CEF–UC; Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia
Ambiental, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain, ICTA-UB). CFE, APPBG
and ICTA-UB will provide a sharepoint with educators, teachers and researchers
(networking, discussing groups and training courses). CFE, APPBG and DTP-UC
will be involved in producing information and tools to be delivered in a website and
in a children’s book.
Persons involved The learners are: i) the participants involved in MediCope, which include the 460
th
children (54 pre-scholars, 298 scholars and 108 students from 5-6 grades) and
20 teachers (4 educators, 12 teachers from primary school and 4 teachers from 5-
th
6 grades); ii) the participants in the training courses (45 educators and teachers);
(iii) the participants in the networking and discussing groups (ca. 250 educators,
teachers and researches); iv) the children that use the information and tolls from
the website (ca. 1million: Portugal, Spain, Europe, Mediterranean regions); v) the
professionals from education that use the web-based sharepoint (ca. 5 thousands:
Portugal, Spain, Europe, Mediterranean regions); vi) the general public (ca. 10
millions: Portugal, Spain, Europe, Mediterranean regions). Several pages of the
MediCOPE website will be on the main social networks (Twitter, Facebook).
WHAT?
Educational / learning Formal: Early childhood; Primary education; Teacher education

setting and level
Addressing climate change, biodiversity and effective environmental awareness
topics from young ages is multidimensional. Teaching and learning domains in
th
pre-scholars, primary school and 5-6 grades are highly interrelated. MediCOPE
propose to publish a book for children and create an innovative and creative
website to improve information and tools, including special education. MediCOPE
also intend to be a sharepoint for educators, teachers and researches, including
networking, discussing groups and training. The information for book and website,
as well as the training courses for educators and teachers, are already
conceptualized; it resulted from a framework developed in a previous participatory
project “Experiencing and Discovering Mediterranean” (EDM-project). Multiple
methods were used in EDM-project to attain various data sources and
perspectives of children, teachers and researchers in gathering knowledge. EDM-
project was implemented in three distinct schools spectrums, rural and urban,
from Portugal and Spain. In total, 30 actions were collectively constructed and
evaluated.
WHY?
Tools and materials
Themes Climate change

Water
Biodiversity
Disaster reduction
WHEN?
Starting year and Starting on January of 2011 and ending on June 2012
duration
77
WHERE?
Geographical setting Regional: Coimbra, Portugal

International: Spain, Barcelona
METHODOLOGY
Methods & The methodologies used in MediCOPE comprise innovative collaborative and
approaches contextualized approaches resulting from EDM-project, in which a framework was
developed based on assumptions derived from literature: (i) learn by doing contribute
to engage in science knowledge; (ii) inquiry-based practice focusing biological issues
contribute to better understanding the synergistic effects of social-ecological
interactions, such as climate change, drought, soil erosion, biological invasions,
wildfires, habitat destruction, biodiversity losses, and pollution, occurring in
Mediterranean Basin; (iii) constructive approach provide the expansion of inquiry-base
practices by using multiple information resources and complementary methods; (v)
collaborative research action and contextualized teaching and learning possible
produce positive identities. The main topics and units of the programme planning are
summarized in Fig. 1. From EDM-project resulted 30 actions to be conducted in class
and outside, individually, small groups and/or all class together. We used current
materials, gardening tools, local maps and music, photography and video-tape
equipment.
Working The initiative will be held in Portuguese, Spanish and English.

language(s)
Budget and 1] Website (domain name, hosting, design & doding, webmaster/maintenance):
funding sources 5500€. [2] Promotion & Publicity (postcards & business bards, graphic artist, press
materials, stills reproduction publicist): 2500€. [3] Production expenses (web-videos;
post-production): 2000€. [4] Book (design, 2500 prints in Portuguese and 2500 prints
in Spanish): 14600€. [4] Training courses will be held by CEF and APPBG.
Evaluation of Part of the MediCOPE initiative represents an extension the participative research
initiative EDM-project that was evaluated and funded by Ciência Viva (Ministry of Science,
Technology and Higher Education). Further evaluations of the EDM-project were
conducted: 1) before the implementation in school (semi-constructed interviews to
teachers and researchers invited to participate), 2) after the planning programme in
schools (questionnaire to teachers and researchers) and activities (questionnaire to
children). Main input collected from the teachers and researchers:   (i) positive
appreciation regarding the innovative methodologies applied to improve teaching and
learning biological issues and social-ecological processes;   (ii) positive appreciation
about the contribution to a better collaboration and contextualized networking, as well
as to the engagement of young people to embark on effective environmental
awareness. Main input collected from the children: positive appreciation on the actions
themselves, with expression on continuing actions afterwards.
Results Our results will have a direct impact in promoting a deeper understanding of biological
concepts and social-ecological processes addressing climate change, biodiversity and
effective environmental awareness from young ages. Educators and teachers’ efforts
on new innovative and creative methodologies will culminate in effective
environmental education, integrating climate and life adaptations, biological
conservation, human well-being and sustainability issues into environmental quality
objectives for the Mediterranean Basin. The collaborative and contextualized
teaching/ learning recommendations and participative visions developed at this
initiative will be from local to national and international importance. Widely publicised
across Iberian Peninsula, Europe and Worldwide, the outcomes from the web-based
platform will transform the dialogue of scientific research and education, in impact
78
policy, corporate strategy and public awareness. The long-term impacts will be the
available protocols in schools and training courses in research institutions and schools
to guide their ESD strategies.
Strengths Project participants achieved important developing teaching and learning actions.
Listed below are a few examples: (i) deep knowledge and expertise gained from
EDM-project via training; (ii) definition of a programme planning to improve teaching
and learning of biological issues and thus a deeper understanding of complex social-
ecological processes to/in Mediterranean regions; (iii) valuable data to enable
discussions towards effective environmental awareness from young ages, including
special education; (iii) intensification of local-multilateral relations Education-Research
and international networks; (iv) actions which are used to promote and continue the
project. The information and tools gathered will be available to distinct public (childres,
educators, teachers, researches, general public) in the website and book. Both
website and book design will focus on the results obtained by the children:
drawings/videos/photos
Perspectives
Why do you MediCOPE focus on the educational and learning dimensions for address climate
consider this a change, biodiversity and effective environmental awareness in Mediterranean Basin
good practice? from young ages. MediCOPE makes a difference and demonstrate a positive and
tangible impact by enclosing three key domains: i) information and tools for children,
ii) networking and training for educators and teachers, and iii) sharepoint between
academic institutions and schools. MediCOPE represents also a successful
opportunity to disseminate other initiatives already existing (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7). Finally,
we truly believe that information and tools gathered will offered new and creative
solutions for teaching and learning biological issues from young ages and with that a
deep understanding of social-ecological processes occurring in Mediterranean Basin.
Websites
1 [2006] http://www1.ci.uc.pt/sementeaofruto/
2 [2009] http://fazerpouco-mudarmuito.bot.uc.pt/
3 [2009] http://biotic.bot.uc.pt/
Books
4 [2007] Semente ao Fruto: À Descoberta do Mundo das Plantas
[http://www1.ci.uc.pt/sementeaofruto/ ]
5 [2007] Ciência a Brincar: Descobre as plantas [http://www.editorial-
bizancio.pt/coleccoes.php?col=19&id=370 ]
6 [2009] Vamos cuidar da Terra: fazer pouco pode mudar muito

http://books.google.com/books?id=kqnQOqW4_4C&printsec=frontcover&dq=vamos+cuidar+da+terra&sourc
e=bl&ots=KOIsOwku0v&sig=RkIEeU7FBAByHvqbNi55BCbpz0&hl=en&ei=StXcTJj2CMq1hAe9zMzQAg&sa
=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CDoQ6AEwBTgK#v=onepage&q&f=false
7 [2009, 2010] Cogumelos do Paul da Madriz [http://www.uc.pt/imprensa_uc/catalogo/outros/cogumelos/ ]
79
19. Calera de tango, life reserve. Education for Conservation

Calera de Tango Municipality, Chile
CONTACT Calera de Tango Municipality

Postcode: 9560187
Chile
Telephone: 56-02-8108920 Fax: 56-02- 8551607
email: mroa@calera-detango.cl Sitio web: www.calera-detango.cl
Makarena Roa Cornejo. Environment Department Manager
DESCRIPTION The Municipality of Calera de Tango Works from 5 years ago in environmental
education for the protection of local biodiversity. In this context, we have
developed a non-formal education program, theoretical and practical, named
“Calera de Tango, life reserve. Education for Conservation”, whose objective is to
create knowledge about the wild flora and fauna present in our community, to
raise awareness in children, youth and adults, for them to be respectful of the
local surroundings, and diminish the impact of our community in the biodiversity
caused by hunting and the recollection of native species.
The program consists in diverse annual activities in the 4 local public schools, the
6 private schools, and the childhood protection network and community
organisations.
Activities undertaken are: 1) Biodiversity workshop: for a public of children from
public and private schools conducted by environmental educators. 2) Lectures:
for children, youth and adults of the municipality conducted by environmental
educators. 3) Field trips: visits to natural spaces, zoos and fauna rehabilitation
centres. 4) Creation of awareness and teaching material, like flyers, booklets and
interactive CDs in the frame of project co-conducted with local organisations. 5)
Creation of the book “Calera de tango, life reserve” sponsored by the private
sector and distributed for free in the community, and 6) Environmental Leadership
Contest for municipal public schools.
This initiative is innovative because it consists of an integrative proposal of
Education for Biodiversity with the following characteristics:
1. It is sponsored by the local authorities based on the local environmental
reality which is clearly defined, particularly with the presence of 2 island hills
(Cerros Chena y Lonquén), both representing the Mediterranean eco region
and key sites for the conservation of biodiversity (sites 23 and 18). They
have an important biological value for the region and the country because of
their endemic nature and great fragility due to degradation.
2. Additionally, this environmental reality includes the identification of the
threats that exist for these sites, amongst which we highlight the degree of
unawareness of the population of the value of the natural resources in the
hills and their impact on activities in general (human, commercial and
agricultural). Therefore, this initiative will face problems from a local
perspective and in line with the reality of our municipality and our province.
3. It is supported by the public sector (central) and private (ONGs and private
sector) showing how different actors in our society are involved in this
challenge.
4. Moreover, the public is very diverse, including children, youth and adults, and
each activity is organised according to the group and they are in the form of
presentations, field trips and creating high quality source material for the
community.
5. This initiave works with 2 sites that are located in 2 different communes.
Nevertheless, administration is integrated as one entity, due to the
importance of preserving the site as a whole.
80
OBJECTIVES
Relate to national This initiative is inscribed in national priorities because management of natural
priorities resources and biodiversity are central priorities for the Ministry of the
Environment. This is shown in the new environmental institutionalization, which
began in October 2010 with the creation of the Service for Biodiversity and
Protected Sites, to create effective protection of wild areas where responsibilities
are shared between the different actors involved both public and private. The role
of the ministry of the environment is to propose policies and concrete actions that
can establish criteria and preventive measures to favour the recovery and
preservation of ecosystems and natural areas specially those most affected or
fragile. Also, to create and execute studies and research programs, protection
and preservation of the biodiversity, and to manage and update a database on
biodiversity.
Also, one of the main goals of the National Strategy for Biodiversity is to preserve
at least 10% of the surface of each and every one of the ecosystems of the
country considering establishing on 2015 a network of preservation of main sites
with permanent action to guarantee its effective preservation. This again helps to
understand how the sites this initiative is working on, are a priority.
WHO?
Type of organization Local authorities

managing the initiative
Partners/stakeholders Government
Local Authorities
Schools
Community Organisations
Private Sector
Local authorities, represented mostly by the Maire of the Municipality of
Calera de Tango and Director of the Corporation of Education and Health of
the commune, allow and foster the development of educational initiatives to
protect the natural resources of the area, emphasizing the importance of
adding this activities in schooling institutions of the commune, as key actors to
develop the department initiatives.
Schools, through their directors and teachers, support directly the execution
of programmes, allowing pedagogic times to teachers and students for the
execution of all the activities.
The support received from the central government is shown for the free
Access to parks, reserves, and institutions linked to the environment and
through the transfer of financial resources to communitarian organisations
(FPA fund). These complement the execution of the programme of
environmental education along with the creation of material to diffuse and
build awareness that will be delivered to the community.
81
The private sector also plays a key role through the financial support for
project implementation on scientific research, where other than those
research related activities, they include education at the school and the
production of the book “Calera de Tango. Life reservoir” that has become an
important contribution for advocacy of ecosystem of the community.
Persons involved - 10 schools of the commune of Calera de Tango, with workshops and
conferences with a total of approximately 500 students a year.
- 200 adults a year, including teachers, members of social network,
neighbours, and authorities from the municipality of Calera de Tango.
WHAT?
Educational/learning Schools: Primary education, teacher education, higher education.

setting and level Non formal: members of social networks, authorities and leaders of the
commune of Calera de Tango.
WHY?
General focus of the Learning of sustainable development in a formal, non-formal and informal
initiative network.
Tools and materials
Research / development
Themes Environment
Biodiversity
Natural Resource Management
Sustainable urbanisation
WHEN?
Starting year and Annual program started in 2005, this being the 5th year of implementation.
duration
WHERE?
Geographical setting Local: Municipality of Calera de Tango
METHODOLOGY
Methods and Curricular framework of Chile’s basic education and basic fundamental objectives of
approaches education where knowledge in the subsectors of learning on “comprehension of the
natural, social and cultural environment” and “study and comprehension of nature”
related with the value of biodiversity, the human footprint in ecological equilibria and
appreciation of the biological species in the improvement of the human quality of life.
(Mineduc, 2002)
Working Spanish
language(s)
Budget and funding (1) Biodiversity workshop: $ 1.400.000. – Financed by the municipality
sources
(2) Conferences: $ 600.000. - Financed by the municipality
(3) Field work trips: $ 2.000.000. - Financed by the municipality
$ 200.000. . Financed by TRANSELEC
(4) Creation of learning and awareness material such as booklets, flyers and
interactive CDs.
$ 600.000 flyers (4.000 copies, 2.000 of each). Financed by FPA 2009 and 2010
$ 1.600.000 interactive CD (1.000 copies). Financed by FPA 2010
$ 426.000 biodiversity booklet (2.000 copies). Financed by FPA 2009
$ 250.000 wall calendar (1.000 pieces). Financed by FPA 2009
$ 1.050.000 desk calendar (600 pieces). Financed FPA 2009 and 2010
$ 190.000 posters (500 copies). Financed by FPA 2009
$ 298.000 stickers for cars (2.000 ejemplares). Financed by FPA 2009
82
$ 2.600.000 guide of birds of prey (2.000 copies) . Financed by TRANSELEC

(5) Creation of the book “Calera de Tango, Life Reserve”
$ 6.500.000, 1.000 copies. Financed by TRANSELEC
(6) Environmental leadership contest for municipal schools.
$ 1.000.000, environmental Project for teachers. Financed by the municipality
$ 1.000.000, 2010 best environmental management practices for a school, parents
center. Financed by the municipality
RESULTS AND EVALUATION
Evaluation of There is no formal assessment of the initiative

initiative
Results There is no formal assessment for the initiative. However, the effects are seen in the
high demand from schools to implement the program. A clear example of this is 2009
when 5 workshops were done in schools of the municipality, and in 2010 coverage
doubled to 10 schools.
Another effect is that from our work, members of the childhood protection network
implemented in early 2010 an annual delivery of environmental commitments with
focus on biodiversity in the light of the engagement of several community
organisations (schools, neighbours associations, elderly clubs). For this initiative the
municipality had the role of advisor for the network.
Strengths Transversal initiative including multiple stakeholders from all groups of age.
Creation of different educational material of long life and products to support teachers
that will stay in schools.
Part of a 5-year action plan to preserve biodiversity approved by the regional
environment commission, which gives full support in terms of legality, management
and sustainability.
Weaknesses and There is no stable budget, so, each year funds should be won or found or create
risks projects to be financed. This represents a risk in terms of sustainability of the
initiative.
So far, formal education is not incorporating in a serious and consolidated way the
problematic of education for biodiversity conservation in our country. Therefore, even
if there are hours dedicated to the learning of science and the environment, the
content are not involving a clear focus on the value of local biodiversity, and should
be inserted within more global contents. This makes their inclusion more difficult.
Constraints
Problems Lack of school hours to include content.

encountered
Lack of interest from teachers due to ignorance of the thematic.
Inconstant budget.
Solutions adopted Incorporation of the program within the formal curriculum.
Enhance of the environmental certification of schools (SNCAE), because it promotes
and boost strongly the inclusion of environmental education in different fields and
sectors.
Teacher education and support with educational material.
Inclusion of the program in plan and project of institutional relevance to insure
minimum budget to manage external funding.
Unresolved Inconstant Budget
problems
83
Perspectives
Conditions for Interest from local authorities, social participation, funding, transversal action.
successful
replication
Why do you Because it takes action in a local situation like the presence of 2 priority sites, it
consider this a analyses the importance of both and present threats and afterwards develops a
good practice? program of education for the whole community. This demands each year more
information and management for the protection of sites and to include relevant actor
in the public and private sector to support the management and funding and that have
committed with the program supported by different initiatives through time.
All of this shows that this is a transversal, integrative initiative with high social
participation where every actor assumes his responsibility in the protection of the
sites and provides from its experience and competence that have created more
conscience in people established in the surrounding areas, and therefore, greater
protection.
84
20. Environmental Symposium for Students– S.A.E.

Livio Reginaldo Fischione Educational Institution, Colombia
CONTACT Institución Educativa Livio Reginaldo Fischione

Calle 14 C Nº 15 – 85 (Riohacha – La Guajira)
Colombia
Phone: 7276112 Fax: 7282620
Email: henriquezsoleno@yahoo.com
Raúl Eduardo Henríquez Soleno - Professor
DESCRIPTION The Livio Reginaldo Fischione Educational Institution and its Ecologic Department
are engaged in prevention and preservation of the environment and invite every
year the youth from the institutions of the La Guajira Department (Col.) interested
in research and discussion about environmental problems at the local, regional
and global level, to participate in the Environmental Symposium for Students
(Simposio Ambiental Estudiantil) where solution alternatives are presented.
Promoters of the event are by teachers in the area of natural sciences and
environmental education. Beneficiaries are every student and teacher who has
participated directly in the event or indirectly through its divulgation. The
pedagogical project SAE Is base in the General Education Law (Law 115/1994),
the Law 99 (Ministry of the Environment), Decree 1743 (scholar environmental
project –PRAE), the Political Constitution of Colombia, and the National Program
of Environmental Education.
The budget for implementation of the project is institutional (aprox $1,500,000.00)
one million five hundred Colombian pesos a year.
Innovative aspects: to apply the symposium technique at a basic education level.
In general, symposiums are organized at the professional education level. Taking
as reference points the environmental topics-issues priorities established as the
global authorities (ONU/PNUMA) to de developed by youth and teachers. In the
same way, we discussion global problems at the local level.
OBJECTIVES
Relate to national To strengthen the environmental/ecological profile of the fischionist educational

priorities community.
To promote in other educational institutions the pro-environmental actions
developed in the institution.
To create a space for student participation that will allow to bring closer the youth
and the environmental issues and the creation of solutions.
To exchange proposals of knowledge, preservation and care of the natural
resources.
To write a document with the memories of the symposium to be given to the
85
authorities in charge of taking care of the environment.
WHO?

Partners/stakeholders Local Authorities

involved Schools
Higher Education Institutions
NGOs
Key stakeholders are students from the educational institutions of Riohacha,
joined by their teachers, to participate in the event after the call is announced.
Other stakeholders but not less important are the environmental authorities
(CORPOGUAJIRA), who are responsible for the adequate management of
natural resources in La Guajira Department. In addition, NGOs with
environmental action are involved.
Persons involved The Project takes place in the city of Riohacha, the capital of the La Guajira
department in the north of Colombia. Participants are approximately 200
students and 25 teachers (as expositors) annually.
WHAT?
Educational/ School: Basic Education; Secondary Education

learning setting and
level
WHY?
General focus of the Learning about sustainable development in a formal, non-formal, and informal
initiative settings .
Themes Environment
Climate Change
Water
Biodiversity
Disaster Reduction
WHEN?
Starting year and 2003 (8 years)

duration
WHERE?
Geographical setting Local: Municipal (Interschools)
METHODOLOGY
Methods and Exposure Technique:

approaches
We use the symposium as a formal exposition group technique (a maximum of 5
panellists per group) where every presenter develops a different aspect of the same
subject, with a maximum time of 20 minutes and the use of technological support for
the presentation of the chosen subtheme.
Poster presentation:
Posters will have the following format: 1m long for 70cm height, vertical orientation.
The content most correspond to the subtheme assigned by the organization of the
Symposium and it must include the following elements: title, text, photographs and
figures, authors and institution.
Working Spanish
language(s)
86
Budget and funding $1.500.000.00 (one million five hundred Colombian pesos a year), provided by the
sources school and some environmental NGOs with cash donations.
Evaluation of At the end of the symposium, we conduct a survey to participants to know their
initiative degree of satisfaction and interest from several points of view (academic, logistic,
environmental).
Results In 2003, we organized the first Environmental Symposium for Students with the theme
“Environmental Problems: Causes, Consequences and Solutions”, with the
subthemes, among others: residual waters, acid rain and pollution of watersheds.
In 2004, International Water Year proposed by PNUMA, the second Environmental
Symposium for Students called “Water: knowledge, management and conservation”
with subthemes such as: inland water recovery, watersheds, pollution and
preservation, and prevention of the pollution of aquatic ecosystems.
In 2005 the theme selected was “Waste: sources, management and importance” for
the third Environmental Symposium for Students with subthemes such as: industrial
waste, residual waters, marine debris, among others.
“Global Warming: Causes, Effets and Possible Control” was the central theme of the
fourth Environment Symposium for Students in 2007, which included topics such as:
forest fires, thaws and avalanches, heat waves, human health, droughts and famine,
among others.
As 2008 was the United Nations International Year of the Planet, we selected the
central theme of the fifth Environment Symposium for Students to be “Planet Earth: a
healthy, safe and pleasant place today and tomorrow”. In this occasion we presented
subthemes like: landmines, among others.
2009 was marked by the sixth Symposium on “The Ocean as a natural resource for la
Guajira”.
In 2010, International Year of Biodiversity, we proposed the seventh Symposium on
“Biodiversity and Climate Change”.
We managed to engage both private and public educational institutions from our town
and other municipalities close to Riohacha; the participation of science clubs (Saturn
V, Alfa-Science, Saurios), parents, government actors like Corpoguajira and the
University of la Guajira, NGOs, environmentalist like the Casa Ecologica Foundation,
Itaca Foundation, Ecosfera Foundation and the LeadershipInternational Faculty
Foundation.
At the international level, the SAE was accepted as speaker in the V World
Environmental Education Conference (Canada, 2009)
Strengths The level of engagement of youth on their presentations.
Weaknesses and We need a national or international body to sponsor the event in the future, otherwise
risks it might just stop.
Constraints
Problems We need a national or international body to sponsor the event in the future, otherwise
encountered it might just stop.
Solutions used Request for support to governmental organizations.
Unresolved The attainment of economic support to advocate for this initiative at the international
problems level.
Perspectives
We want to present this initiative at a international level in academic events of

environmental an pedagogic nature.
87
Through the symposiums we have achieved:

• To strenghten the ecological/environmental profile of the community.
• Active and permanent participantion of approximately 20 educational
institutions, both rural and urban.
• To propose from school, alternatives to the solution of environmental issues
coming from participant students.
• To exchange and know proposals about knowledge, care and preservation of
natural resources.
• To change and improuve youth’s attitude towards environmental issues.
Conditions for One important aspect to reproduce the initiative with good results is to attract the
successful youth of the basic schooling levels and transform then in value multipliers. .
replication
Why do you We consider this as an exemplary initiative because:

consider this a - We work with Young students from the basic level
good practice? - Subject treated are of local, regional and global importance.
- We work for the environment.
- We propose to enhance environmental values.
88
21. Agro ecological Schools of High Mountain, an opportunity to continue

the use of the land
Alexander von Humboldt Biological Resources Research Institute, Colombia
CONTACT Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt

Adresse: Calle 28a #15-09
Colombia
Phone: (571) 3202767 Fax: 3202767
Email: avasquez@humboldt.org.co
website: www.humboldt.org.co
Adriana Vásquez Cerón. Investigadora Proyecto Paramo Andino
DESCRIPTION Agro ecological schools of High Mountain

Agro ecological schools have as prime objective to improve agricultural practices
on the rural communities of high mountain that have installed production patterns
with high impact (monoculture of potatoes, extensive livestock) and that create
unsustainable conditions in the social and environmental sphere. They are also
detrimental for the living environment of those communities.
They are oriented to strengthen the communitarian networks and to create social
participation culture and self-sufficiency through a methodology of training from
farmer to farmer. There, we value traditional knowledge and the construction of
concrete knowledge directed to the preservation of traditional cultural practices
that preserve the agro biodiversity.
From the political point of view of the Agro ecology, schools point out the
importance of fostering the training of critical and independent farmers against the
forces of the market. They promote food sovereignty, and the creation of farmers’
fair markets.
In the project GEF – Paramo Andino, the Humboldt Institute and the CARs, they
created the buffer zone of the Paramo del Duende, the Agro ecological schools of
Monteloro and Playa Alta, with the ONG Fundavi and he Paramo of Belimra, the
Agro ecological school, promotors network, with RECAB.
Since 2007, the call and creation of schools with the objective of joining the local
communities in the process of preservation and sustainable use of the Paramos
as strategic ecosystem for the country and as the territory of culture and
knowledge.
Participants called are small farm owners who join in a process of horizontal
training and take over responsibilities of planning and implementation of
agricultural practices in their locals, which become a centre for practice and
research in their community.
Even if Agro ecological Schools have been developing in Colombia since a couple
of decades, in the case of the High Mountain Schools, some important
adjustments have been done to the methodology and culture of the communities
from Paramo and the management needs on the reference eco systems. This has
allowed to start a process of interaction of the different elements of restoration and
landscape management at the local level, and the communitarian level, a real
contribution to the collective pathways.
Another interesting innovation has been the development of communitarian
research concerning the use of local species for the production of properties and
tools. In the social participation level, we are about to begin a third phase that will
allow promotors to créate messages and media management for social
awareness and replication of the experience in other municipalities.
89
Members of the ECA Union participation on work to prepare concentrated animal based food.
2008
OBJECTIVES
Relate to national The high plateaux are defined as strategic ecosystems to provide environmental
priorities services such as hydraulic regulation. This lands are a source of water for a great
part of the urban and rural population of the country and are considered unique
because of their biodiversity and its high vulnerability to the effects linked with
climate change. The high plateaux have a long history of indigenous and rural
population due mostly to processes related to conflict and displacement.
Communities settled there have developed work patterns adapted to
environmental conditions and their knowledge of the soil, farming and treatment of
diverse species through the Andes, which has developed a high agrio biodiversity
represented in the variety of tubers and medicinal plants. The arrival of new
technologies and the imposition of monoculture, has created a broader agricultural
frontier has begun in the plateaux, changing traditional practices without improving
the well-being of the inhabitants and in detriment of the environmental services
provided by this ecosystems.
WHO?
Type of organization
Partners/stakeholders NGOs
In the Cuaca Valley, the NGO FUNDAVI (Fundacion para la defensa de la
vida), is in charge of creating and guiding the work of the ECAs, the Agro
ecological schools, through an agreement with the Humboldt Institute,
including efforts, resources and technical capacities. FUNDAVI is formed by
local farmers that have been training in technical aspects on agro ecology,
sustainable management of soil and preservation, with the support of
institutions like the CVC (Autonomous Regional Corporation from the Cuenca
Valley) and the Alexander Von Humboldt Biological Resources Research
Institute. FUNDAVI has been in charge of creating and consolidating Agro
ecological Schools of Monteloro and Playa Alta, in the Trujillo Municipality, in
the Cauca Valley. In 2007, work with 10 families started to plan the programme
on the area and to design better agricultural practices for each. By 2010, work
has reached a total of 20 families.
In Antioquia, Belmira High plateau, the RECAB, Colombian Network of
biological Agriculture, started its work in 2008 with approximately 70 farmers in
the area of the District for Integral Management of Forests and High Plateaux
of the middle northwest of Antioquia. RECAB is a NGO from the department of
Antioquia which promotes development and promotion of alternative and
sustainable agriculture, socially fair, environmentally healthy and providing a
better quality of life in the farmer’s communities. In the system of High Plateaux
and forests in the high andes of the middle northwest of Antioquia, in the
creation of the agro ecological school of the high mountain of Belmira. The
work is done through a process of training of facilitators who will replicate
applied knowledge in their own properties to other members of the
communities. RECAB emphasizes agro ecology, alimentary sovereignty and
90
gender equality.
Persons involved The buffer zone of the Regional Natural Parc of del Duende High Plateau,
Monteloro lane, Trujillo Municipality, Valley of the Cauca, 20 families, 20
properties.
System of high plateaux and forests in the high andes of the middle northwest
of Antioquia. Entrerrios municipality, Belmira, San Jose de la Montaña: 17
promotors.
WHAT?
Educational/learning Formal: Primary Education

setting and level
Non-formal: non formal education for adults. Process of participative construction
of practical knowledge and implementation between technical knowledge and
traditional knowledge.
WHY?
General focus of the Training of Trainers

initiative Research and Development
Temas Ethics
Multicultural understanding
Citizenship
Environment
Biodiversity
WHEN?
Starting year and 2007-2011

duration
WHERE?
Geographical setting Local: working at the community/municipal level
METHODOLOGY
Methods and Agro ecological schools establish as their primary guide the horizontal
approaches communication and construction of technical and communitarian knowledge. In
the examples presented here, we have used farmer-to-farmer training with slight
variations between the case of Belmira and el Duende.
Belmira: Recab started its project with the training of farmer promoters with
workshops (agro ecology, natural medicine for animals, sustainable village,
among others) and tours of the farms with a theoretical-practical methodology
and participation building with analysis and follow-up indicators. This
methodology promotes that farmers lead and develop a process of development
in their communities based in the rational use of natural resources, the value of
indigenous knowledge in the management of their environment and the
improvement of the quality of life. This methodology is based in principles like
starting slow and small, use simple technologies, the importance of success (that
needs to be fast and clear) and to work with people and not for people.
Agro ecological schools of Monteloro and Playa Alta (ECA): the methodology is
also theoretical and practical, with a special component surrounding indigenours
culture and for the acknowledgement of popular tradition. We have selected jobs
with a high symbolic charge and functional who are represented by each of the
families of the school members. We select them in a participative matter, the
waterboy, the seeds guard, the “Pacho” who is in charge of research and study
on soil management, the “yerbatera”, the storyteller and historian, the curious or
research, and the “chavarri” or partner.
Working language(s) Spanish
91
Budget and funding Budget is provided for the GEF Project on Andean high mountains and with
sources funding of the regional autonomous corporation of Antioquia for the case of
Belmira.
Until now, an investment of approximately 320 million has been made. This
includes the budget from 2007 and in both pilot sites mentioned.
Evaluation of There is a constant adaptation and adjustment of the implementation activities and
initiative the insertion of new subjects to the qualification. For example, political training for
participation
Results Agro ecological School of Belmira:
• 17 promoters trained in topics of agro ecology, better agricultural practices
and animal care.
• 17 promoters trained in replication of knowledge to other members of the
community and to participate in processes of regional and municipal
planning.
• 17 farms with better agricultural practices.
• 17 families have improved their food habits and income through their
gardens for self-consumption and therefore become less dependent on
the market.
Agro ecological Schools of Monteloro and Playa Alta:
• 20 families apply better agricultural practices.
• 20 farms produce food in gardens for self-consumption, without toxic
substances.
• 20 farms apply practices for the preservation of the agro biodiversity
(preservation of seeds, multi-culture and use of organic fertilizers).
• 20 families have decreased their expenditure and improved their quality of
life.
Two countryside communities, with knowledge of their land, value their culture and
knowledge and apply them to improve their quality of life and make sustainable the
natural resources they rely on for their economy and culture.
Strengths • Value of local knowledge and farmer’s traditions.

• Vision of the community as an organised body capable of planning their future
in their own way, according to their culture, needs and expectations.
• Local empowerment from how-to and farmer-to-farmer communication.
• Building practical knowledge, substantial and with fast results, like the planting
of vegetable gardens for household supply and cost reduction, the preparation
of agricultural inputs to reduce costs and market dependency.
• Distribution of tasks between members of the community to promote
commitment and teamwork.
• At the scholar level, the replication from farmer-to-farmer must allow in the
future to observe regional results.
Weaknesses and • Being communitarian projects, they require long times to respect the rhythm of
risks the communities.
• The public conditions on areas marked by conflict tend to complicate and
create mistrust in the implementation from the community.
• Without the institutional support and the budget to continue the support and
implementation of the best practices, interest and participation might diminish.
• If the family initiatives are not binding with the rest of the community, the main
risk is not reaching a broader regional impact on the landscape.
Perspectives
Why do you consider Adaptation of the farms for new practices is done in a collective way by all
this a good practice? members of the ECA.
92
22. Leading Education with Environmental Responsibility
Tupac Amaru Educational Institution, Peru
CONTACT Tupac Amaru Educational Institution

Postcode: 051
Peru
Telephone: 51-063-287530 Fax: 51-063-287738
Mr Wilfredo Laura Contreras – Director;

Ms Yari Cusis de Egg – Coordinator General of the Environment
Committee
DESCRIPTION The promoters of this good practice are pupils of the “Tupac Amaru”
Educational Institution in the Pozuzo District, in the Pasco Region of Peru,
who have developed their multiple capacities and skills for the protection
and conservation of the planet. They are aware that, as citizens and future
parents, they must act with environmental responsibility, since the Earth is
the place where the future generations will grow and develop. They also
know that the Earth offers great opportunities to improve the quality of life.
They have therefore developed community outreach activities, raising
awareness and teaching by example to respect the natural laws of their
environment and cultural diversity. For example, pupils of both genders
participated in reforesting, cleaning up riverbanks, conserving biodiversity,
practising eco-business, developing productive and enterprising research
projects based on natural and cultural resources, cleaning the district’s
streets, properly managing solid waste, promoting ecotourism, and so
forth. To achieve all this – through the development of multidisciplinary
projects – teachers, pupils and parents have been trained to become
environmental leaders, working for the past 10 years in conjunction with
the District Municipality of Pozuzo, since they believe that strategic
alliances can help to develop environmental responsibility: people become
more proactive, less selfish and spontaneously lean towards
environmental conservation. The effects of this are shown by heightened
environmental awareness in the community and respect for cultural
diversity, reflecting the fact that words have been turned into deeds. The
direct beneficiaries of this good practice are the 2,000 inhabitants of the
urban area of Pozuzo, although the whole population of 7,643 inhabitants
of the district are indirect beneficiaries.
OBJECTIVES To strengthen inhabitants’ environmental culture, hinged on a new

relationship between humanity and habitat, reflected in multidisciplinary
activities with a productive, enterprising, inclusive, ethical and eco-efficient
vision.
INNOVATIVE ASPECT: Developing the project through the coordination of all
areas of knowledge. A new way of perceiving nature and appreciating the
opportunities it offers in order to improve the quality of life. Developing
multiple skills. Strengthening the concept of the “person” and developing
social skills in the community.
Relate to national The practice is developed by applying the cross-cutting themes and goals
priorities of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014). It is therefore
viable for any national reality. On the whole, young people develop their
capacities to meet the challenges of life in the era of knowledge and
globalization.
WHO?

involved
Local authorities
Those interested in supporting the practice are a group of professionals
including agronomists, doctors, nurses and teachers, among other
93
professionals. They regularly visit the Educational Institution to establish

an environmental action plan to be developed annually. They also closely
monitor the work done.
Persons involved Pozuzo Urban Area.

Direct beneficiaries: 2,000 people / Indirect beneficiaries: 7,643
inhabitants of Pozuzo.
Participants: 240 pupils, 12 teachers, 3 administrative staff and 140
parents.
WHAT?
Educational/learning Schools: Secondary education

setting and level
WHY?
General focus of the Policy, regulation and good governance

initiative
Learning about sustainable development in formal, non-formal and
informal settings
Training of trainers
Themes Poverty reduction

Gender equality
Health promotion
HIV/AIDS
Cultural diversity
Citizenship
Peace, human rights and security
Environment
Climate change
Water
Biodiversity
Natural resources management
Disaster reduction
Democracy
Economics
Sustainable tourism
Rural development
Local and global responsibility
WHEN?
Starting year and Starting in 2009 and lasting five years.

duration
WHERE?
Geographical setting Local: Centro La Colonia – Pozuzo – Pasco – Peru
METHODOLOGY
Methods and approaches Development of a multidisciplinary or inter-area project to develop various

skills in pupils. The project content is thus included in all the administrative
and educational management documents: Institutional Educational Project,
Annual Work Plan, Units and Learning Sessions. All of the latter required
the teachers and pupils to announce the results of the sub-projects or
activities to the community in person during an event or by using
94
communication media. This strengthened the team work, valuing individual

skills in all of the activities scheduled.
Budget and funding The budget is 4,000 Peruvian Nuevo Sol, with partial economic support
sources from the Pozuzo District Municipality. The parents’ association also
assumes its financial obligation.
Evaluation of initiative The initiative is assessed annually with the Indicator Matrix for the
Assessment of Educational Institutions for Sustainable Development
developed jointly by the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Health and
the Ministry of the Environment. The Matrix comprises five components:
institutional management, educational management, education in eco-
efficiency, health education and education in risk management, and
consists of 32 indicators.
Results N° Activities Goals per year Success rate Effect

(%)
1 Strengthening institutional and 1 programme 100 Image

educational management strengthened
2 Strengthening community 1 programme 100 Strategic

relations alliances
developed
3 Cleaning and smartening up the 5 programmes 100 Community

district health
strengthened
4 Running research projects on the 4 projects 100 Science

flora and fauna of Pozuzo Club
strengthened
5 Training of local ecotourism Young

mentors (training of tour guides, people
both male and female, who 20 mentors 100 generate
promote the value of natural their own
heritage and the recently created income while
“Oxapampa Yanesha Ashaninka” spreading
Biosphere Reserve) knowledge
on the
cultural and
natural
heritage of
Pozuzo
6 “Adopt a tree” reforestation 50 saplings 100 Watersheds

campaign protected
and
reforested
7 Sound management of solid 1 programme 100 Clean and

waste healthy
district
8 Productive and enterprising 4 projects 100 Young

projects (juices, jams, sorbets, people
biscuits, bread, etc.) generate
their own
income and
wish to
create family
businesses
95
9 Developing an eco-business 3 proposals 100 People

programme aware of
protecting
resources
10 Intellectual production on natural 3 proposals 100 People know

and cultural heritage the value of
their natural
and cultural
heritage
11 Recovering traditional knowledge 2 proposals 100 Spreading

in agriculture, food and natural traditional
medicine knowledge
12 Promoting healthy lifestyles 1 programme 100 Healthier

(saving water and energy) people
13 Creating radio programmes with 1 programme 100 People

cultural and environmental environment
content ally aware
14 Developing the talents of both 1 programme 100 Enthusiastic

genders (dance, theatre, singing, and healthy
poetry, exhibitions, etc.) young
participants
15 Risk management 1 programme 100 People

aware of
managing
risk
Strengths Existence of young leaders who have developed environmental values since
childhood. Strategic alliances with the Municipality of Pozuzo, the Ministry of
Health and the Missouri Botanical Garden. Financial support from the
Municipality of Pozuzo. Heightened environmental awareness in teachers. The
community is conscious of valuing and taking care of the environment in which
they live.
The Minister of the Environment, Dr Antonio Brack Egg, has remarked over the
past five years the level of environmental responsibility of the pupils at “Tupac
Amaru” Educational Institution of Pozuzo.
Weaknesses and risks The low level of education of some inhabitants prevents them from
understanding the need to protect the environment. The presence of newcomers
lacking heightened environmental awareness.
Constraints
Problems encountered Initially, the local people were unwilling to care for the environment. Inhabitants
lacking environmental awareness who do not understand the concept of
sustainability. Over-exploitation of natural resources.
Solutions adopted Strong awareness-raising campaigns in the community, such as environmental

and cultural events with community outreach. Use of communication media to
convey the conservation message.
Unresolved problems A low percentage of illiterate inhabitants lacking environmental awareness.
Perspectives
The implementation of good practice is a major issue for education today, as

young people must be prepared for “life” and the new challenges of today’s
world. Each institution must therefore identify its problems and propose viable
actions to resolve them in an eco-friendly manner, with all groups of people and
with the desire to improve the quality of life for future generations.
Conditions for This good practice requires management with a productive and enterprising
96
successful replication vision, motivated teachers, youthful enthusiasm, strategic alliances and the
programming of viable activities that value people’s natural and cultural
potential.
Why do you consider This is a good practice because it has shown that citizenship and environmental
this a good practice? responsibility may be conferred at an early age, provided mentors promote the
development of environmental values at home and at school, and because
young people have been the agents of change and are an integral part of the
solution to the community’s problems.
97
23. Promoting an Environmental Culture of Eco-Efficiency and

Education for Sustainable Development in Aucará
Secondary Technical Agricultural Educational Institute of Aucará, Peru
CONTACT Institución Educativa Secundaria Técnica Agropecuaria de Aucara

Postcode: 051
Peru
Telephone: 51-966690191
Email: aucara2@yahoo.es
Abraham Herminio Garcia Sotelo, Director
DESCRIPTION “Promoting an environmental culture of eco-efficiency and education for

sustainable development in Aucará” is a practical institutional and educational
initiative undertaken in the context of the development of environmental
management and education, which also shapes institutional and educational
management. Its purpose is to resolve and prevent environmental problems
and, essentially, to help achieve education for sustainable development, thus
facilitating the biological, psychological, social and cultural educational
development of the community, the practice of values and a change in
attitudes providing for a good quality of life and relationship with the
environment. This innovative educational and institutional initiative is
materialized by the adoption of an environmental approach, a culture of eco-
efficiency and environmental management in the Institutional Educational
Project (PEI). It is linked to the Educational Institution Curriculum Project
(PCIE) through the cross-cutting theme, which fosters the development of
abilities, attitudes and values related to life skills, healthy lifestyles, a culture of
environmental responsibility and health, productivity and entrepreneurship,
upon which each teacher draws in their respective subject areas, through sub-
projects and projects such as small livestock and cattle breeding, vegetable
cultivation in fitotoldos [Andean-style greenhouses], greenhouses and open
fields, worm farming, environmentally responsible production projects,
partridge farming, nursery cultivation, afforestation, pasture and fodder
cultivation, cultivation of aromatic plants, floriculture, the promotion of a culture
of environmental responsibility and health, the adoption of parks, rivers, lakes,
forests and roads, and supplying water for Aucará. These skills, attitudes and
values are diversified in the PCIE and are integrated into Annual Curriculum
Planning (PCA) and developed in each teaching unit. In addition, the initiative
is linked to the Annual Work Plan (PAT), the Annual Tutoring Plan, the
Environmental Action Plan, the Manual of Responsibilities, internal rules and
regulations and all institutional and educational management documents. In
conclusion, it is a participatory, results-based educational and institutional
initiative. Accordingly, our institute is a practical training centre focusing on a
culture of eco-efficiency, materialized by a healthy institute and community.
The results thus achieved have been facilitated by the internalization of
environmental education.
OBJECTIVES GENERAL: To promote a culture of eco-efficiency and education for local

sustainable development drawing on participatory principles, fostering healthy
habits and lifestyles and developing environmental abilities, attitudes and
values promoting life in harmony with the environment and a good quality of life
in the context of environmental management.
SPECIFIC: To foster a culture of eco-efficiency and education for local
sustainable development, develop strategic alliances and inter-institutional
cooperation agreements promoting social and environmental responsibility and
eco-efficiency, and to develop abilities, attitudes and values promoting ethical
environmental citizenship and positive environmental management.
Relate to national The initiative is consistent with national priorities through its practical link with
priorities the Ministry of Education, as the educational proposals have been fully
endorsed by Education International (EI), developed following the model of
closely linked projects and monitored by the Department of Community and
Environmental Education (DIECA).
98
WHO?


involved
Schools
The media
Participants in the educational community initiative include pupils and
students, the parish, the general population and authorities – the latter three
being our strategic allies.
Persons involved Direct beneficiaries: Pupils and students: 293 (early education, primary,
secondary, higher education institutions and technical and productive
education centres [Centro de Educación Técnico Productiva] (CETPRO);
population: 1,020. Total: 1,197.
Participants: 93 pupils and students and 9 teachers.
WHAT?
Educational/ School: Secondary education

learning setting and
level
WHY?
General focus of the Learning about sustainable development in formal, non-formal and informal
initiative settings.

Citizenship
Environment
Climate change
Water
Biodiversity
Management of natural resources
Disaster reduction
WHEN?
Starting year and From 2008 to 2015

duration
WHERE?
Geographical setting Local: Aucará District, Lucanas Province, Ayacucho Department
METHODOLOGY
Methods and To ensure the sustainability of the initiative, first, the process of good
approaches practices in education for sustainable development was integrated into our
institutional educational project. Subsequently the focus was on developing
abilities, attitudes and values through the diversified curriculum project and
annual curriculum planning by subject. The process has been linked to
activities and projects in all the institutional management documents.
Working language(s) It should be noted that emphasis is placed, in general, on using the native
language of pupils, students and the community – Quechua.
Budget and funding The budget considered for the implementation of the innovative project
sources “Promoting a culture of eco-efficiency and education for sustainable
development in Aucará” is 42,355 Peruvian Nuevo Sol It is an umbrella
99
project embracing several sub-projects that are dependent on that budget

and can certainly not be fully implemented. Every effort is made to promote
the culture and knowledge of Aucará, so that we try to overcome the budget
problem by minimizing costs and maximizing efforts. The Municipal District of
Aucará, a strategic partner of EI, has nonetheless provided us with funding,
to the extent possible, by allocating 8,000 Peruvian Nuevo Sol to the
implementation of the sub-projects “The adoption of parks, rivers, lakes,
forests and roads” and “Supplying water for Aucará”. This will facilitate the
full implementation and coordination of activities among all the local
institutions.
Evaluation of initiative The ongoing provision of education for sustainable development in our
school has been assessed by DIECA at the Ministry of Education, and the
school has been awarded a national prize for the optimized implementation
of all components and indicators set out in the “Indicator Matrix for the
Assessment of Educational Institutions for Sustainable Development”.
Results As it combines educational processes or practices with institutional

management, it has raised awareness and has changed pupils’ and the
general population’s attitude towards their environment, by heralding in
healthy lifestyle practices institutionally and locally, encouraging a health-
promoting school and community and enhancing the quality of life. The
provision of education for sustainable development is therefore having
positive effects.
Today, the school is seen to be health-promoting and the city clean. This
implies linkage between sustainable development and environmental issues.
There is now an eco-efficient environmental culture.
Education for sustainable development, as currently provided, is also
reflected within the general population.
Each project for the sustainability of such education has its own budget.
It is expected that all of the goals set will be achieved in full by 2015, owing
to the long-term approach.
No. Projects Outcomes Year
1 Establishment of • First post established locally 2005

health-promoting and in the Sondondo Valley.
schools
• First provincial post
• First regional post
• Second macro-regional post
(Ayacucho, Apurímac and
Huancavelica)
• First national post (second
National EPS Meeting)
2 Implementation of the • National acknowledgement 2009

environmental of the first national
approach and “Institutional Management”
promotion of education post (Meeting of schools
for sustainable providing education for
development sustainable development)
3 Capacity- and skills- • Admission of three pupils to 2009

building for life and for the Colegio Mayor
sustainable Presidente del Perú
development
4 Establishment of • First national post (1 national 2010

production and meeting of production and
business schools business schools)
100
(various production
projects)
5 Adoption of parks, • Budget – 8,000 Peruvian 2010

gardens, rivers, lakes Nuevo Sol provided by the
and woodland in Aucará Municipal District
Aucará District
6 Promotion of eco- • First provincial and regional 2010

efficient environmental post (as health-promoting
culture for sustainable schools and communities
development. under the “Wari-Aucará
Growth” programme)
7 Promotion of results- • Construction of a new three- 2006

based participatory block facility to
management 2010
• First invitations to tender for
capacity-building in the
Sondondo Valley
• Fitting and operation of the
facility
• Sports competitions in the
valley and in the region.
Strengths Success begins with the will to work; each member of the education
community and of the population therefore responsibly assumes these good
practices.
Weaknesses and risks Teachers’ resistance to practical education work (implementation stage); few
know of the provision of education for sustainable development,
environmental knowledge and eco-efficient environmental (planning stage);
practices discontinued by parents and authorities (execution); financial
constraints on the implementation and development of the practice
(execution stage); little interest among pupils in learning about and
implementing the practice (execution stage); compliance with lessons learnt
(execution); failure to provide the requisite training (planning stage); the
general population’s resistance to change (execution stage).
Constraints
Problems encountered The prevalence of cultural poverty in our area has long been the cause and
effect of local environmental deterioration and the poor quality of life in
addition to being the major social issue to be resolved. The basic strategy for
achieving sustainable development consists in eradicating extreme poverty.
Many decades ago, the real dimension of education for sustainable
development was not perceived in educational practices in schools. In the
cross-cutting curriculum, environmental education was not linked to quality
education, let alone environmental management; besides, the principle of
eco-efficiency was unknown. As a result, a low level of eco-efficient
environmental culture and sustainable development prevailed within the
general population. In other words, there were no issues of cultural
relevance or ecological-cultural complementarity, apart from the exercise of
citizenship and environmental ethics, to change people’s lifestyles and build
their decision-making capacities in matters of concern to their quality of life.
Solutions used Publicity of the good practice in education for sustainable development through
awareness-raising campaigns, workshops and open analytical dialogues. Eco-
efficiency as a means of linking education for sustainable development to the
issue of institutional and local environmental deterioration. Empowerment of
eco-efficient environmental culture and education for sustainable development.
Unresolved problems Exercise of citizenship and environmental culture of visitors.
Perspectives All proposals made by a school on its own initiative are taken up whatever
the difficulties. Owing to mechanisms for participation in the practice, work is
organized accountably. The conduct of project-based institutional and
educational management yields good learning and development lessons.
101
Results-based participatory management measures capacity-building,

capacity attainment, attitudes, values and genuine entrepreneurship for
sustainable development. It was a mistake to set out to achieve short-term
results at the cost of ever greater pressure for a change of attitude and
sustainable development.
Conditions for We are in a position to share good-practice results and to continue working to
successful replication develop good practice in full.
Why do you consider The practice, combined with specific suggestions, does indeed promote
this a good practice? sustainable development institutionally, even more so if it is extended to the
community, as in our case.
102
24. Fans of the Planet. Biodiversity
Environment and Natural Resources Secretariat, Mexico City, Mexico.
CONTACT Environment and Natural Resources Secretariat

Progreso 3, planta alta, col. Del Carmen Coyoacán
Mexico City, Mexico.
Telephone: (01) (55) 54843599
Email: luisa.lopez@semarnat.gob.mx
Website: www.semarnat.gob.mx
Ms María Luisa López Gómez, Director of Environmental Culture and

Educational Communication at the Centre for Education and Training for
Sustainable Development
DESCRIPTION Fans of the Planet is an educational communication strategy on environmental

education for eight-to-ten-year-olds. It involves the dissemination of and
initiation in educational processes, drawing on universally accessible
information technology such as the Internet. It therefore requires constant
content and information renewal in order to maintain the interest of the target
public, especially in the case of children.
In developing the relevant subject matter, specific objectives are sought in
order to trigger some thought or action by the child or to bring to light a variety
of new topics, as the case may be, especially in regard to key environmental
issues such as climate change and biodiversity.
Site personnel publish useful information on the premise that children love the
planet and wish to share information. The goal is to give children insights into
complex issues such as climate change, water management, forest
preservation and biodiversity simply, clearly and truthfully.
The goals of the Fans of Animals section are to raise children’s awareness of
the care required by their pets, explain to them which animals are suitable as
pets, give news on animals at risk or endangered and make suggestions about
remedial action that they can take.
The goal of the Fans of Greening is to enable children to grasp the “greening”
concept, which prompts them to reflect on their consumption and the effects of
their activities on caring for the planet.
Fans of Aventure is designed to encourage children to learn about various
places in the Republic, nearly all of which have been classified as national
parks or reserves, by following the adventures of Rox (one of the main
characters relates his adventures in various places and makes
recommendations) and the adventurer’s guide.
OBJECTIVES
Relate to national Drawing on the interests of the target public, on a study and on educational
priorities suggestions, the goal is to attract children in this age group by linking their
daily activities to care and respect for the environment. This entails using
series of suggestions and children’s taste for games, animals and technology
to arouse their committed interest in topics such as climate change, soil, air
and water pollution, the greenhouse effect and other general environmental
issues. For that purpose, the various objectives set include, most
outstandingly, continued operation of the Fans of the Planet webpage as a
source of environmental information for children in primary Years 4 to 6.
Communication and ongoing inclusion of content are therefore necessary to
keep children’s interest alive, as are confidence in resolving and the
discussion of doubts about school activities. Information on the performance of
environmental educational activities is also included for use by teachers and
parents, whether within or outside the school environment, such as cleaning
days, cultural pursuits and scheduled organized reforestation activities. Fans
of the Planet aims to include tools for communication with the school
community on environment issues, as a platform for exchanges of experience,
materials, activities, concerns and thoughts on topics of interest such as
animals, solid waste, energy and technology with environmental implications.
103
Under each activity, the educational suggestions made and carried out include
competitions, games, videos, fact sheets, downloads on environmental
education, an open discussion forum on environmental education and a
register for the exchange of information.
WHO?

Partners/ Government (State/provincial/district)

stakeholders involved
Local authorities
Schools
Through local governments and environmental and education officials, the
schools and other organizations are those in charge of forming alliances and
applying this educational and communication strategy in participating schools.
WHAT?
Educational/learning School: Primary education

setting and level
Extracurricular: Proposal for basic education from primary Years 4 to 6
WHY?
General focus of the Learning about sustainable development in formal, non-formal and informal
initiative settings
Tools and materials
Themes Environment
Climate change
Water
Biological diversity
WHEN?
Starting year and The webpage was opened in September 2008 and, within one year, there
duration were more than 100,000 visits and nearly 3,000 emails were received
requesting and suggesting content on very specific environmental subjects
that could be included.
WHERE?
Geographical setting National
METHODOLOGY
Budget and funding MEX $350,000 (three hundred and fifty thousand Mexican pesos per year)
sources provided by the federal Government
Evaluation of initiative To evaluate any content or activity, focus groups are convened to collate
information and make the necessary amendments or changes. Each new
update is submitted to these groups before publication. Similarly, groups of
pupils in Years 4 to 6 are interviewed and their replies are analysed. The
emails, too, are analysed and used as bases for the inclusion of new content.
These assessments are disclosed to the pupils. Furthermore, various groups
such as teachers, communication, education and environmental professionals
and parents are also consulted.
Results There have been more than 125,000 visits to the Fans of the Planet webpage,
104
with fans spending an average of 5.30 minutes per visit. Some 71.12% of all
visits were made by new users, while the remainder were by returning users.
Strengths For more than two and a half years there has been a well-constituted
environmental education webpage. The page has been updated constantly and
has been a reference point for children and teachers. It contains creative
activities and provides food for thought on leading environmental issues, drawing
on a captivating approach, involving games, surprising data and technology, to
attract children. Information technology is used widely in the project, which
makes it easier for children to obtain technically valid information in the various
fields of the environmental sector.
Constraints
Problems This kind of distance education project must be widely disseminated and
encountered promoted if it is to become a lifelong communication and education tool for the
public at large. A standing group must be established for updating purposes and
for ongoing communication with pupils and teachers so that major doubts can be
dispelled and a basis established for all updating.
Solutions used Online dissemination strategies. Webpage promotional activities such as

competitions, workshops and courses.
Perspectives
This webpage has reached maturity in terms of the content and structure that
would enable a database to become an environmental education tool for basic
education Years 4 to 6. Under this approach, other groups of children, teachers
and parents are brought together in an endeavour to adopt attitudes and
lifestyles consistent with sustainability. Accordingly, it would be desirable to
implement a strategy and establish alliances with various institutions and
organizations engaged in environmental education so that it can be used as a
tool in the formal setting of environmental education.
Why do you consider This initiative draws on information technology to provide updated information to
this a good practice? the population at large. It therefore addresses the right of human beings to a
healthy environment specifically and promotes directly principles and values
such as accountability, respect for all life forms and the common good as the
basis for achieving sustainability.
105
106
UNESCO has launched the ESD in Action Good Practices series
to encourage exchange of good practices and experiences
among stakeholders from different parts of the world, and assist
them in their efforts to implement Education for Sustainable
Development (ESD). This series focuses on ESD good practices
related to various issues and themes. These are initiatives,
projects and policies closely related to ESD that provide
examples of practice, generate ideas and contribute to policy
development.
To support the growing interest in biodiversity issues and
ESD, UNESCO is publishing this volume containing 24 examples
of programmes addressing biodiversity in ESD settings and
practices. These good practices and shared experiences,
provided by a range of different stakeholders, are concrete
examples of successful implementation of ESD in different fields
and sectors, from the political to the school level, and including
formal, non-formal and informal learning situations.

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United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development

Education for Sustainable Development

Education for Sustainable Development in Action

Education for Sustainable Development in Action

Education for Sustainable Development Section (ED/PSD/ESD)

Cover design: Helmut Langer

Since the beginning of the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable

ESD is a complex and evolving subject, and how it is applied and

To support the growing interest in biodiversity issues and ESD, UNESCO is

1. Empower Namibians to Make Decisions for a Sustainable Future 7

2. Water School for a Living Yangtze 12

3. ESD at Ramsar Wetlands in Osaki-Tajiri 17

4. ESD as a Tool for Creating Development and Sustainability in Project-Work 23

5. In Jordan, Biodiversity Concepts Available for all Students 30

6. 2010: the International Year of Biodiversity in School! 33

7. A Day for Biodiversity 37

8. Promoting Biodiversity through Environmental Education Centers 41

9. “Chrysoprasino fyllo”: trans-national cooperation for networking schools, 45

11. Falkenstein Wilderness Camp 50

14. “Sustainability has many faces” 62

15. Initiative “Place a Stone in a Stream” 66

16. Ambassador species for Biodiversity 69

18. MEDIterranean disCOvery exPerience: collaborative networking for Education 76

19. Calera de tango, life reserve. Education for Conservation 80

20. Environmental Symposium for Students– S.A.E. 85

21. Agro ecological Schools of High Mountain, an opportunity to continue, 89

22. Leading Education with Environmental Responsibility 93

23. Promoting an Environmental Culture of Eco-Efficiency and Education for 98

24. Fans of the Planet. Biodiversity 103

1. Empower Namibians to Make Decisions for a Sustainable Future

CONTACT Namib Desert Environmental Education Trust (NaDEET)

Type of organization NaDEET is a non-governmental organization registered as a Namibian non-profit

experience in sustainable living.

Barring rain, no fossil fuels are used at the Centre.

RESULTS & EVALUATION

Presentation of effects, results or impact of the initiative

Strengths The successful implementation of NaDEET’s initiative relies on three factors:

2. Water School for a Living Yangtze

CONTACT Shangri-la Institute for Sustainable Communities

Type of organization Non-governmental

Partners/stakeholders Government (State/provincial/district)

Educational / learning Formal: Primary education, Secondary education, Professional education,

Themes Intercultural understanding

Starting year and January 2008 – December 2010

practice of sustainable water resource management.

Working Chinese (Mandarin) / English / Tibetan

RESULTS & EVALUATION

Presentation of effects, results or impact of the initiative

Strengths Phase I of the programme initiated and developed an alternative approach to

agencies, essentially making it a joint local initiative.

3. ESD at Ramsar Wetlands in Osaki-Tajiri

CONTACT RCE (Regional Centre of Expertise on ESD) Greater Sendai

Type of organization Local authority

Partners/stakeholders Local authorities

Educational / learning Formal: Primary education; Teacher education; Secondary education

Starting year and since 1996 to present

RESULTS & EVALUATION

Presentation of effects, results or impact of the initiative

Analysis of success factors

Strengths (a) involvement of diverse stakeholders, including farmers, teachers, researchers,

rice farming. The case is encouraging because it is not simply a story of

4. ESD as a Tool for Creating Development and Sustainability in Project-

CONTACT Deutsche Gesellschaft Für Technische Zusammenarbeit Gmbh